I think it was in my early high school days when I first heard, and learned, the meaning of the word vernacular. I was so pleased with myself.
I believe I took a liking to that word after my teacher explained vernacular as being the ‘language of the streets.? I soon learned that did not include the evening hour obscenities.
Please move ahead with me to a conversation I had recently with Pastor Bob Holt.
He and I have been members of the Oxford Rotary Club a lot of years. I stopped him to ask the meaning of a word in my father’s Bible, that was given to Dad by his in-laws Dec. 25, 1921.
It doesn’t matter the word I questioned, what matters is how some words got into Bibles. Which brings us to the word vernacular. You’ll have to agree with me, word usages and meanings have changed, even as we speak, today.
In the beginning, words were often spelled by the way they used to say them, and they continued to change from country to country, dialect to dialect.
Bottom line, the word I asked Pastor Bob about was a vernacular, made-up and used with different meanings through the years by different peoples.
So, you can expect some hideous, hippy slangs may be in my great, great grandchildren’s Bibles.
It’s possible!
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A recent message reads, ‘Despite what you may have seen on the streets, the following combinations DO NOT go together and should be avoided.
1. A nose ring and bifocals
2. Spiked hair and bald spots,
3. A pierced tongue and dentures.
4. Miniskirts and support hose.
5. Speedo and cellulite.
6. A belly button ring and a gall bladder scar.
7. Unbuttoned disco shirts and a heart monitor.
8. Midriff shirts and midriff bulge.
9. Pierced nipples that hang below the waist.
10. Bikinis and liver spots.
11. Short-shorts and varicose veins.
12. ln-line skates and a walker.
13. Ultimate bad fashion: A thong and Depends.
* * *
Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, DC, ‘Outside the killings, Washington has one of the, lowest crime rates in the country.?
Brooke Shields, trying out for a federal anti-smoking campaign, ‘Smoking kills. If you are killed, you have lost a very-important part of your life.?
U of K basketball player: ‘I’ve never had knee surgery on any other part of my body.?
Dan Quayle – – ‘I love California, I practically grew up in Phoenix.?
Lee Iacocca: ‘We’ve got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need??