The Americans here have all probably heard of the "amethyst" movement , which is where college administrators are saying the current "under 21" law isn't working, and they want it decreased to 18.
I found the name of the movement linguistically interesting. Of course, I had known an "amethyst" to be a beautiful stone, but until this initiative I hadn't heard that the word had evolved from Greek and Latin words meaning "not drunken." The OED has this comment on its etymology:
quote:
[a. OFr. ametiste, amatiste, ad. L. amethyst-us, a. Gr. -, prop. adj. ‘not drunken’ (f. priv. + *, verbal adjective f. - to intoxicate, f. wine), applied subst. to this stone (as also to a herb), from a notion that it was a preventive of intoxication. In end of 16th c. the word began to be refashioned after the Latin, though the earlier amatist was still usual in early part of 17th.]
So there was a "notion" that the amethyst prevented intoxication? Does anyone know the background of that "notion?"
Interesting. I hadn't known about the etymology, but it doesn't really surprise me. The ancient Greeks and Romans had all sorts of "notions" like this. Much of the great encyclopaedia by Pliny the Elder, for instance, Naturalis Historiae, "Natural History" is a collection of - to us - risible folk tales, obvious advice and superstitions, interspersed with clear insight. It also gives an excellent idea of the preoccupations of the ancient Romans.
Theophrastus was probably the ancient Greeks' expert on stones. I'm not sure if either Pliny or Theophrastus repeated the story about amethyst and drunkenness, but it seems likely.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
The cop stopped the weaving Ed Jones As drunk as a skunk, make no bones. The cop said, “You’re so stiff That your breath I can sniff.” But Ed mumbled, “You’re thmelling my thtones.”
arnie, I think your site about the meaning of the amethyst may have had the answer. Do you suppose that ancient myth about Bacchus turning the maiden to stone and then, in remorse, pouring wine on the statue had something to do with it? Apparently goblets of Amethyst were said to have prevented the drinker from being overwhelmed by the drink's spirit. Perhaps that's where it came from? Has anyone seen this ancient myth before? I was confused as to who the "drinker" was.
It also said that today when people try to overcome alcohol addictions today, they use the healing powers of Amethyst. Has anyone heard of that? I also wondered why they capitalized "amethyst" sometimes, and sometimes they didn't.
Much of the great encyclopaedia by Pliny the Elder, for instance, Naturalis Historiae, "Natural History" is a collection of - to us - risible folk tales, obvious advice and superstitions
I haven't read it, but my understanding is that many of the common myths about animals -- elephants never forget, elephants are afraid of mice, ostriches hide their heads in the sand -- come from Pliny.
