Do you remember a thread, where we talked about range of color, and compared it to range of word nuances?

I do. It was pruned.

I miss it.

You've been working very hard at figuring out what has been going on in Lebanon. I appreciate it. I really do. It's just so sad.

You saw it coming, and other things like it, long time ago already. There's a limit to the human ability to withstand suffering. I don't think you've reached yours. But, I've reached mine.

quote:

There's a limit to the human ability to withstand suffering.

AS in death?

no, as in ... willingness to know things that are rotten.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: --Kate,

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." -- Abraham Lincoln

Character.

That's a word.

Right you are, Kate, it is a word...

...so is 'rotten'...

Kate is a character.

Takes one to know one!

ric,

"Character" is one of "those" words, eh?

Kate is a "character"
"Kate" is a character
"Kate" is a "character"

Looks as if "Kate" is one of "those" words too.


If it takes one to know one, how many does it take to know two? .............. or is that too?

char·ac·ter
n.
1. The combination of qualities or features that distinguishes one person, group, or thing from another. See Synonyms at disposition.
2. A distinguishing feature or attribute, as of an individual, group, or category. See Synonyms at quality.
3. Genetics. A structure, function, or attribute determined by a gene or group of genes.
4. Moral or ethical strength.
5. A description of a person's attributes, traits, or abilities.
6. A formal written statement as to competency and dependability, given by an employer to a former employee; a recommendation.
7. Public estimation of someone; reputation: personal attacks that damaged her character.
8. Status or role; capacity: in his character as the father.

9. A notable or well-known person; a personage.
10. A person, especially one who is peculiar or eccentric: a shady character; catcalls from some character in the back row.

11. A person portrayed in an artistic piece, such as a drama or novel.
12. Characterization in fiction or drama: a script that is weak in plot but strong in character.
13. A mark or symbol used in a writing system.
14. Computer Science.
One of a set of symbols, such as letters or numbers, that are arranged to express information.
15. The numerical code representing such a character.
16. A style of printing or writing.
17. A symbol used in secret writing; a cipher or code.

adj.
1. Of or relating to one's character.

2. Specializing in the interpretation of often minor roles that emphasize fixed personality traits or specific physical characteristics: a character actor.
3. Of or relating to the interpretation of such roles by an actor: the character part of the hero's devoted mother.
4. Dedicated to the portrayal of a person with regard to distinguishing psychological or physical features: a character sketch.

Law. 1. Of or relating to a person who gives testimony as to the moral and ethical reputation or behavior of one engaged in a lawsuit: a character witness.

tr.v. Archaic charac·tered, charac·ter·ing, charac·ters
1. To write, print, engrave, or inscribe.
2. To portray or describe.

Idioms:
in character
Consistent with someone's general character or behavior: behavior that was totally in character.
out of character
Inconsistent with someone's general character or behavior: a response so much out of character that it amazed me.


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[Middle English carecter, distinctive mark, imprint on the soul, from Old French caractere, from Latin charactr, from Greek kharaktr, from kharassein, to inscribe, from kharax, kharak-, pointed stick.]
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charac·ter·less adj.

I take it you are pointing to "character"'s (big fancy word alert) polysemous character.

I always like to go to the (big fancy word alert) etymology of the word first as it usually indicates the concrete root of the word, the meaning becoming more readily seen or imagined. (Incidentally, this realization is where my search for the physical and biological roots of meaning began.)

Here, it is all about the act of writing, historically moving from the act of inscribing to the act of describing, (the purpose of inscribing,) to the thing being described.

These developments result in a family of meanings with family resemblances but lacking a consistent overall connection, the acts of inscribing and describing being most central. (Here i am referring to the concept of radial categories as put forward by Lackoff.)

Historically, the word's polysemy develops as it metaphorically maps across to other activities and later to the objects of those activities, activities like printing, drama, giving testimony, symbolism, genetics or computer science.

(BTW Kate, you were the one who first pointed me to Lackoff. Thanks.)

Yeah, ric, I was interested in "character" as a study of its own.

It's got three syllables, several letters, and lots of nuances to meaning.

Lakoff? I learned about him from Ren. He keeps popping up everywhere, doesn't he?

"Once you pop, you can't stop."--Pop culture blurb

Kate is a character? Maybe on the internet.

No one can be anything more than a "character" on the internet.

I've been spending a lot of time pondering this current issue.

And I've come to the conclusion the more ways we create to communicate the more "masks" we feel we must create to "safely" communicate.

Functioning in today's world no longer takes a person who can wear many hats. It takes a person who can wear many masks and play many roles.

And with so many masks and roles - the "true" person, (the only one truly worth getting to know ), gets buried under layers of factitious crap.

BTW - I am only using "Kate, the character" as a generalized example. Kate, the person is a whole different narative.

quote:

No one can be anything more than a "character" on the internet.

I kinda had definition number 10 in mind.

quote:

I've been spending a lot of time pondering...

That reminds me of my favorite mouse.
Pondering

And one just for you Bonnie...

The Brain

And Kate, a lift of the lid to Ren.

A ten.

Interesting points about the roles we play, Bonnie.

A sentence for ric and/or Bonnie, or maybe Sunrise, or maybe a ... guest.

"Open gate only for guests and family."

Only this set of words; only one gate, locked to outsiders, open to insiders. What would *you* do?



I'll be back ...

Buy a ticket.

Oh my goodness - you're a tuber, too? Thanks for the laugh Ric.

Kate - I would have to know if it was intentionally advertized as "guests" but actually meant "members" in an attempt to attract guests to sign up as members.

Bonnie - A quote from one of the books I'm reading regarding the 'loneliness' issue:

"Notions of community support and civic obligation are pretty feeble in the United States, forming, as journalist Alex Marshall puts it, "a thin, tepid brew." We live, he says, "in one of the loneliest societies on earth," or as Will Hutton poingnantly sums it up, "a market society makes strangers of us all."
In fact, as globalization accelerated and the economy shifted into high gear, the last vestiges of community in America were effectively snuffed out.
- Morris Berman, Dark Ages America/The Final Phase of Empire

Here's another quote from the book: "Much of what America worships, and how it prays, can be seen any weekend at a large suburban shopping mall. This is now our "public space," and it is ovviously not very public.

If the success of Walmart is any indication, it seems Americans give higher value to cheap shampoo than they do to healthy communities, to paraphrase James Howard Kunstler in The Long Emergency.

Regards - Howard

'Miaouw!' (A catcall from the back...)