[lit-ideas] Re: Bible Belt Buckles
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 10:02:46 EDT
In a message dated 8/4/2004 2:56:30 AM Eastern Standard Time,
atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
I have news for JL, not only can he be a part of the Bible Belt but he can
have an actual Bible Belt Buckle.
http://www.christianlink.com/gifts/biblebuckle/
This is surely more exciting than Marston's issolect... Goddless Communism
is to blame for most
ellipses.. Before the Supreme Court became a tool of the Commies and said
it was OK to burn our flag, and to keep to Christ from attending public
schools and crecheing out on government property, well, we knew who we were
then -- we were God fearing Biblebelters! Who knows who we are now?
----
Okay. I was confused -- but no longer.
In a previous note, it was suggested that perhaps "God bless you", as a
reply to "Atchoo" had originated with Pope Gregory the Great:
_http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgesundheit.html_
(http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgesundheit.html)
Pope Gregory the Great (540-604 AD) ascended to the
Papacy just in time for the start of the plague
(his successor succumbed to it). Gregory (who also
invented the ever-popular Gregorian chant) called for
litanies, processions and unceasing prayer
So it occurred to me -- following a suggestion by J. Krueger -- that it
could be possible that the idiom originally meant:
A: Atchoo
B: Bless you.
(Short for: Pope Gregory Bless you).
-- the dogma being that it's only the pope (rather than God self) who _can_
_bless_ mortals.
This posed a problem for the subjunctive:
"God bless you", being subjunctive, is easy to explain "Let God bless you".
But it seemed otiose (to me) that if it is the _pope_ who blesses you that
his reference also be subjunctival.
Marston's issolect fails to make any reference to Pope Gregory, so I thought
I would ask.
Thank you for your reply,
Cheers,
JL
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