The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5

=> "compact" OED

Posted by pancho (Guest) - Monday, June 25 2007, 20:16:47 (CEST)
from 189.156.11.249 - dsl-189-156-11-249.prod-infinitum.com.mx

Mexico -

Windows XP -

Internet Explorer
Website:
Website title:

...I don`t like online sources...they simplify things too much. The Oxford English Dictionary only has a compact version for free....and I have no patience to figure out how to get into more depth with them...I prefer hard books...but here`s their compact definition:

martyr

• noun 1 a person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs. 2 a person who exaggerates their difficulties in order to obtain sympathy or admiration.

...you can see the difference right away...this definition mentions nothing about "voluntary" or choice...in this definition a martyr is anyone killed FOR their beliefs...which covers the six million Jews the Christians murdered. Also this definition allows "other" beliefs..wheras the Merriam Webstaer sticks to religious beliefs alone.

...the whole idea of martyr has at its core the question of choice..of the person choosing to suffer death rather than renounce beliefs...to change the definition and make everyone who gets murdered FOR their beliefs a "martyr" waters down the true significance...after all, is there no difference between the one who is shot behind his back for being a Muslim...and the one who has a gun pointed at his face and told to renounce Muhammad...or else? Is there no difference? Are they both and equally, "martyrs"? If so....then what distinction is there between the way one is killed and the other?

...language should seek precision. Even poets should.

---------------------

- BACK TO INDEX - REPLY - QUOTE - EDIT - DELETE -

The full topic:

Definition of "Martyr" pancho - Monday, June 25 2007, 20:04:52 (CEST)
- "compact" OED pancho - 06/25 20:16
- and.... pancho - 06/25 20:22

Content-length: 1732
Content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Accept: image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, application/vnd.ms-excel, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, applicatio...
Accept-encoding: gzip, deflate
Accept-language: es-mx
Cache-control: no-cache
Connection: Keep-Alive
Cookie: *hidded*
Host: www.insideassyria.com
Referer: http://www.insideassyria.com/rkvsf5/rkvsf_core.php?Definition_of_Martyr-JQUl.3Ciy.REPLY
User-agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1)