The Shrine

I love it (the Wikipedia part that is; I haven't used the other Wikimedia stuff much). It's back up - I hadn't realized how much I'm starting to depend on it. I wrote another article today (just a stub) about the rapper Suga Free, since I noticed there wasn't one.

Also, I'm at least a little drunk - actually, make that more than a little. I loves me some working at home, too. Despite the relative unpopularity of my last few drunken messages, I'm still quite inclined to say: "HELLS YEA, BIYYYATCH!!!!!!"

Booyakasha!

Boy, it hasn't been that long and even <i>I</i> can tell that was a drunken message.

Oh well.

In the vein of extending my drunken-ass messaging, the following is from the Wikipedia on "Etymology of 'Alcohol'":

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The word "alcohol" almost certainly comes from the Arabic language (the "al-" prefix being the Arabic definite article); however, the precise origin is unclear. It was introduced into Europe, together with the art of distillation and the substance itself, around the 12th century by various European authors who translated and popularized the discoveries of Islamic alchemists.

A popular theory, found in many dictionaries, is that it comes from الكحل = ALKHL = al-kuhul, originally the name of very finely powdered antimony sulfide Sb2S3 used as an antiseptic and eyeliner. The powder is prepared by sublimation of the natural mineral stibnite in a closed vessel. According to this theory, the meaning of alkuhul would have been first extended to distilled substances in general, and then narrowed to ethanol. This conjectured etymology has been circulating in England since 1672 at least (OED).

However, this derivation is suspicious since the current Arabic name for alcohol, الكحول = ALKHWL = al???, does not derive from al-kuhul. The Qur'an in verse 37:47 uses the word الغول = ALGhWL = al-ghawl — properly meaning "spirit" ("spiritual being") or "demon" — with the sense "the thing that gives the wine its headiness". The word al-ghawl also originated the English word "ghoul", and the name of the star Algol. This derivation would, of course, be consistent with the use of "spirit" or "spirit of wine" as synonymous of "alcohol" in most Western languages. (Incidentally, the etymology "alcohol" = "the devil" was used in the 1930s by the U.S. Temperance Movement for propaganda purposes.)

According to the second theory, the popular etymology and the spelling "alcohol" would not be due to generalization of the meaning of ALKHL, but rather to Western alchemists and authors confusing the two words ALKHL and ALGhWL, which have indeed been transliterated in many different and overlapping ways.

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I can vouch for the confusing-ass nature of transliterating Arabic to English, which, unless someone who knows what they're doing is doing the transliteration, can lend itself to the kinds of abuses described above. The "ALKHL" and "ALGHWL" transliterations are moderately accurate (though in Arabic the consonants are pronounced a little bit differently; in particular the "GH" sound is made pretty far down in the throat).

I also find it moderately interesting that the name of the star "Algol", which I have to think is where the Phantasy Star series is fictionalized to take place, comes from this conjectured root, as does the word "ghoul".

Hooray for drunken-ass free association

I think they should change the name, "Wiki" sounds like somthing a three year old would call his penis.

Am I still drunk enough to call you an idiot?

...

No, after the recent discussion on disparagement, I'm not drunk enough to call you an idiot, but I do notice that once again, you're making a disparaging and dubious generalization. Why do you do this?

I'm sober, but I will still call your assessment of a simple opinion in my post moronic. Of course, your drunk, you don't know any better now do you?

(grits teeth)

Better than what, now? I'm plenty sober at this point. I'm trying to live by the principles I was so blithely laying down the other day about disparagement, but you're making it pretty hard for me...