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Quirks, Part Deux

I went to the Quirks thread and saw it is closed so I thought I'd reup it. The Quirk I have is not so theological.

Last year I took my family to Niagara Falls. Here we were walking next to one of the great wonders of the world and my Daughters (aged 10 and 6) are looking left at the $6.00 a bar Haagen Das vendor.

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Permalink Reply by xulon on May 4, 2009 at 6:36am: Here's another one. This one is just me being obsessed and not a reflection on others, but I am watching the changing of the meaning of the phrase beg the question. Essentially, it means that the answer leaves the question still begging for an answer. More and more commonly, it is being used to mean that something "begs that another question be asked". That is, the phrase is used to introduce a new question. Wrong, and I don't think this is a positive evolution of the phrase.

I'll make this theological. A few weeks back, my pastor preached on the passage in Peter that says "have an answer to anyone who asks you a reason for your hope". A key part of this is living a life that causes others to wonder about you. So the preacher kept chanting "does your life beg the question?" I wanted to tell him "unfortunately, yes". In this case, it was obvious what he meant and I do need to consider whether hope is something that identifies my life. So I tried to silence this quirk and consider what he meant even if he was abusing English to say it.

Then, yesterday on the Sunday news shows, Bob Schiefer used the phrase to introduce a question. Mary just looked at me and smiled.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ray Nearhood on May 4, 2009 at 8:35am: On the subject of quirks with respect to misuse of the English language (in light of the worship songs discussion), the song "As the Deer" annoys me. Not for any theological implications, but because of this line:

You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship Thee

Why "You..." and then "... Thee?" Why not "Thou alone art my hearts desire, and I long to worship Thee."

The author also uses the King James English verb construct "panteth" and "longeth" earlier in the song...

As the deer panteth for the water so my soul longeth after Thee

... yet neglects the "eth" at the end of "long" in the line I quoted earlier.

If you're going to use King James English, be consistent!

xulon said:
Here's another one. This one is just me being obsessed and not a reflection on others, but I am watching the changing of the meaning of the phrase beg the question. Essentially, it means that the answer leaves the question still begging for an answer. More and more commonly, it is being used to mean that something "begs that another question be asked". That is, the phrase is used to introduce a new question. Wrong, and I don't think this is a positive evolution of the phrase.

I'll make this theological. A few weeks back, my pastor preached on the passage in Peter that says "have an answer to anyone who asks you a reason for your hope". A key part of this is living a life that causes others to wonder about you. So the preacher kept chanting "does your life beg the question?" I wanted to tell him "unfortunately, yes". In this case, it was obvious what he meant and I do need to consider whether hope is something that identifies my life. So I tried to silence this quirk and consider what he meant even if he was abusing English to say it.

Then, yesterday on the Sunday news shows, Bob Schiefer used the phrase to introduce a question. Mary just looked at me and smiled.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by joanne guarnieri on May 4, 2009 at 8:44am: Ray Nearhood said:
On the subject of quirks with respect to misuse of the English language (in light of the worship songs discussion), the song "As the Deer" annoys me. Not for any theological implications, but because of this line:

You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship Thee

Why "You..." and then "... Thee?" Why not "Thou alone art my hearts desire, and I long to worship Thee."

The author also uses the King James English verb construct "panteth" and "longeth" earlier in the song...

As the deer panteth for the water so my soul longeth after Thee

... yet neglects the "eth" at the end of "long" in the line I quoted earlier.

If you're going to use King James English, be consistent!

I actually met the person who wrote this song, and we all sang it together a cappella in a wonderful, impromptu time of worship, years ago. I treasure the memory to this day.

Sweet soul, he prayed like this too, and it is a very dear carry-over from when the King James was the English translation. Everyone memorized scripture in those days, so all the old English rolled off their tongues when quoting, then would be salted liberally with their normal dialect in between quotes. My in-laws pray like that, being old enough to come from that time period.

So rather than bash him, consider that this song flowed from his heart one day as he wept over the Psalm that inspired it.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by xulon on May 4, 2009 at 9:20am: joanne guarnieri said:
So rather than bash him, consider that this song flowed from his heart one day as he wept over the Psalm that inspired it.
I really don't want this thread to go here. As i said in my response to myself, this is about my personal quirks and so I can laugh at myself. It would be a shame if this were to turn into a complaint session about other people's quirks.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by joanne guarnieri on May 4, 2009 at 9:27am: Thank you Xulon, relief is flooding my whole person!!

I have a personal quirk which is coming out in this thread. I think as Christians we should be looking for Christ in each other, and always pouring love over what we might otherwise find fault in. Call it the mother in me, I get very defensive of believers, as though they were all mine to defend. I find this does leave me, from time to time, the only one defending the lamb behind me who has, probably, more than the ordinary share of faults to find.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rey Reynoso on May 4, 2009 at 9:38am: Xulon, that Begging the Question thing is one of the things that gets me too.

Personal quirks:
1) I have a tendency to pretend I'm a jedi when I go into the supermarket with the automatic doors
2) I have a tendency to drop a Star Wars reference in just about any face to face discussion.
3) I bring up the Matrix way much...some might think Too Much, I think not enough.
4) My memory is awful so I have to keep extensive outlines of everything I study lest it goes into the Ether.
5) I have an annoying tendency to make humming yum-yum noises while eating which I don't realize until my wife (or anybody) says "REY! WHAT THE HECK!"
6) I both abhor with a passion and love mowing the lawn. On the negative side I hate that I'm a slave to mindless grass. On the positive side it's about three hours of uninterrupted theology/preaching/bible reading on my iPod.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Char on May 4, 2009 at 9:45am: Face to face only???

2) I have a tendency to drop a Star Wars reference in just about any face to face discussion.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ray Nearhood on May 4, 2009 at 9:48am: I think the song is a great testament of someone longing for God, and a beautiful rendition of the Psalm that inspired it. Misuse of language, though, no matter the context, is like fingernails across a blackboard to me. The fault is mine, I recognize that.

joanne guarnieri said:
Ray Nearhood said:
On the subject of quirks with respect to misuse of the English language (in light of the worship songs discussion), the song "As the Deer" annoys me. Not for any theological implications, but because of this line:

You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship Thee

Why "You..." and then "... Thee?" Why not "Thou alone art my hearts desire, and I long to worship Thee."

The author also uses the King James English verb construct "panteth" and "longeth" earlier in the song...

As the deer panteth for the water so my soul longeth after Thee

... yet neglects the "eth" at the end of "long" in the line I quoted earlier.

If you're going to use King James English, be consistent!

I actually met the person who wrote this song, and we all sang it together a cappella in a wonderful, impromptu time of worship, years ago. I treasure the memory to this day.

Sweet soul, he prayed like this too, and it is a very dear carry-over from when the King James was the English translation. Everyone memorized scripture in those days, so all the old English rolled off their tongues when quoting, then would be salted liberally with their normal dialect in between quotes. My in-laws pray like that, being old enough to come from that time period.

So rather than bash him, consider that this song flowed from his heart one day as he wept over the Psalm that inspired it.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rey Reynoso on May 4, 2009 at 9:53am: True. Need to use an emoticon. =(

Char said:
Face to face only???

2) I have a tendency to drop a Star Wars reference in just about any face to face discussion.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by joanne guarnieri on May 4, 2009 at 9:55am: HHAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

5) I have an annoying tendency to make humming yum-yum noises while eating which I don't realize until my wife (or anybody) says "REY! WHAT THE HECK!"

Mmm hmmm. And do you wave your hand in front of someone's face in a special way and make a powerful suggestion (Such as, "This is not the robot you are looking for")? Often people will give me the special blank look, but it only lasts a moment, and then I am told that my Jedi powers don't work on this planet.

2) I have a tendency to drop a Star Wars reference in just about any face to face discussion.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rey Reynoso on May 4, 2009 at 9:57am: Well, I can do a Jedi Push with my hand to most people.

I look at them intensely, raise my hand, lick the open palm and then jam it in their face.

They fall back untouched every time.

joanne guarnieri said:
HHAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

5) I have an annoying tendency to make humming yum-yum noises while eating which I don't realize until my wife (or anybody) says "REY! WHAT THE HECK!"

Mmm hmmm. And do you wave your hand in front of someone's face in a special way and make a powerful suggestion (Such as, "This is not the robot you are looking for")? Often people will give me the special blank look, but it only lasts a moment, and then I am told that my Jedi powers don't work on this planet.

2) I have a tendency to drop a Star Wars reference in just about any face to face discussion.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by joanne guarnieri on May 4, 2009 at 10:08am: As to personal oddities, I do a lot of pretending throughout the day, and half the time I believe myself. My favorite, I am Xena. Either that, or an elf princess (she had beautiful long, brown hair).

When a problem happens I remember the stay-puff marshmallow man and ask myself, "Who ya gonna call?" That always makes me feel more cheerful. Even sing a little riff under my breath. DOO do DOO do, duddle dah. "Important safety tip" is a favorite quote when something very bad happens.

When someone gets all angry and rawr I make puff noises and a little beam noise for the light saber.; ▶ Reply to This