USAGE: Cool Idioms (was Bibliography)

Steg Belsky wrote:

> On Sat, 27 Mar 1999 22:46:06 -0500 Carlos Thompson
> <chlewey@...> writes:
> >> So, maybe it's connected, maybe it isn't.....it could be some kind
> >>of
> >> Anusim ("marranos") thing, maybe?
>
> >"marranos"?
> >With the meanings I use for "marrano" and all the alternative meanings
> >the
> >dictionary has, anything that is not a four-leged hog is obscure to
> >me.
>
> >Carlos Th
> >http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/9028/
>
> "Marranos" is the commonly-known name for the Anusim ("forced ones" in
> Hebrew), Conversos, Crypto-Jews, etc....Jews who publicly became
> Christians in order to escape the Expulsion from Spain in 1492 but
> continued to practice Judaism in secret.  The Inquisition was used to
> find and kill them.  The name "marrano" is probably because that's what
> the Christians called them as an insult.
This is the ethimology I have: "marrano" was a mozarab word meaing
"forbiden", which begun to be used to reffered to both the people for who
porc was forbiden and for the porc itself, being extend to mean the hog.
Then marrano was both the Anusim and the hogs.  After Anusims were not a
common fenomenum in this side of the pond ("a este lado del charco"),
probably the word "marrano" where brought with one meaning: hog.

Followed by this meaning, marrano could also be used in, almost all the
meanings English has for "pig": dirty, swane, slob (as the derivated word
"marranada": filthy/foul/rotten trick).

There are some technical items called "marrano", used in carpentry and
construction, but I had no idea how they looks like.

Here, in Colombia, the word "marrano" has gotten some other meaning, when
reffering to people: a person who would solicitously serve and not get
reward (either because s/he doesn't want it or because is waiting for a
reward that will not come), this meaning has derivate in the verb
"marranear": to use other people; and expressions like "coger de marrano"=
:
use sb. (note that in Colombia "coger" has not the negative meaning it ha=
s
in Central America or Argentina); "ser marrano de": serve sb without rewa=
rd,
etc.

> -Stephen (Steg)
>  "do not fear sudden terror"
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
> You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
> Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.htm=
l
> or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
--
Carlos Th
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/9028/

Luh=EDz=F9langk=FBr=EB puh=EDz=F9langy=EFm=EAr=EB
Luh=EDz=F9langk=FBr=EB puh=E9v=F9lay=EFm=EAyih=EDz=F9
                -- Hangkerim proverb

Vec=FBr=EBrangk=FBr=EB
                -- Hangkerim proverb