Car Tags

In the United States there is a tradition of "vanity" automobile license plates. For an additional fee, authomobile owners can have customized messages on their car tags. Some of the most well-known of the vanity tags have these messages:

2THDR       This reads as "tooth doctor" and belongs to a dentist.
GRLPWR   This reads as "girl power."
NOSUP4U  This reads as "no soup for you!" and echoes the famous Soup Nazi episode on the         popular Sienfeld television series.
ISWALO     This reads as "I swallow" and is a vulgar reference to fellatio.
HIOFICER This reads as "Hi, officer!" and is a message to any police officers following the vehicle.
GONPLCS This reads as "Going places."

An extended list of car tags is at www.coolpl8z.com, check out the constantly changing Top 100.  Some are quite vulgar and offensive. You may wonder how some of the slogans got past the censors.

I recently saw a license plate which at first I could not decipher; GETMULA. I eventually understood that it reads as "get moolah." Moolah is a slang word for money. How sad.

The acquisition of money sadly is the primary motivation for many people. A Christian understanding of money is that it is simply a tool, neither evil nor good in and of itself. Ethical acquisition of money, a proper relationship to that money, and its use in furthering the Kingdom of God are proper subjects for Christian discussion.

For Pete's Sake!

“For Pete’s sake!  Would you please stop doing that?!”

“For Pete’s sake” is an idiomatic exclamation in English which expresses annoyance, irritation, or frustration with the actions of another person or with a situation.  It is considered to have originated as a substitute for “For Christ’s sake!” which many considered to be an irreverent use of the Lord’s name. This substitution is called a euphemism (from Ευφημία (Greek:  Eu: “good” or “true” plus phemi: “speech, speaking”).  The idea od the word is the opposite of the word “blasphemy.” (Βλασφημέω (Greek:  Blaspho: “I injure”).  A euphemism substitutes a mild, indirect, vague, neutral, or inoffensive word for one which is considered to be rude, harsh, blunt, offensive, profane, vulgar, uncomfortable, insensitive, socially unacceptable, or blasphemous.

“For Pete’s sake! ” instead of “For Christ’s sake!”  The derivation of this substitution is not at first obvious until you realize that “Pete” probably refers to Peter the Apostle.  Many Christians would still find this phrase to be offensive.

A few examples of English language euphemisms:

“Fallen asleep” or passed away” instead of “dead.”

“In trouble” instead of “pregnant.”

“Weiner” instead of “penis.”

“Getting laid” instead of “having sex.”

“Bloody” instead of “God’s Blood.”

“Dang” or “darn” ” instead of “damn.”

“Gosh” ” instead of “God.”

“Gee” ” instead of “Jesus.”

“What the heck?” instead of “What the Hell?”

“Rosebud” ” instead of “anus.”

“Pardon my French” instead of “Excuse my use of profanity.”

“Mary Jane” instead of “marijuana”

“SOB” instead of “son of a bitch.”

“Take a dump” instead of “defecate.”

“Drinking” instead of “consuming alcohol.”

“Visually impaired” instead of “blind.”

“Not the brightest light bulb” instead of “stupid.”

Although this particular post is English-specific, euphemisms are used in most, if not all, languages.  Many consider the Tetragrammaton, YHWH, to be a euphemism which is used to ensure that the holy name of God is not pronounced out loud because of its extreme holiness.  Jews regularly substitute the word “Adonai” (Lord) in place of YHWH.

Ezekiel 4:9 Cereals

This is not a joke.  There is a breakfast cereal named Ezekiel 4:9.   It is produced in the State of California (USA) by the Food for Life Baking Company.

The cereal is multigrain (wheat, barley, millet, lentils, soybeans, and spelt).  I bought a box of the Ezekiel Almond Cereal to test it.  If you eat this cereal, expect that it will have little inherent taste and will be highly crunchy.  The fiber count is 6 grams per a ½ cup (57 grams) serving.  This is 24% of the recommended daily human fiber intake.  Total fats are 3 grams.  Cholesterol is 0 grams , so this may be an option for those who need to restrict their lipid intake.  The sodium and potassium levels are 190 and 220 milligrams respectively.  The sugars are less than 1 gram but this is counterbalanced by the 38 grams of total carbohydrates.

I personally found the cereal to be mostly inedible by itself but, with added bran flakes and cut fresh strawberries, I could eat it.  It would not be one of my favorites.

The included grains were used mainly to feed cattle; they were used to make bread by people who were extremely poor or during a time of famine.  The Israelites considered it to be a humiliating defilement to be forced to mix these grains together and eat them.

A sarcastic response.  Be warned that it contains vulgarities.

http://www.nobeliefs.com/washingtonnews/EzekielBread.htm

Coakley vs. Brown

Saints on the Loose! is not a political blog and I don't intend for it to become one. I will comment on political issues only when they shed light on a point that I'm trying to make. As a traditional Baptist, I have a very HEALTHY distrust of politics and politicians. Though some have forgotten, we have always strongly believed in the separation of church and state. Sometimes though, you just have to say something.

Martha Coakley, a Democrat, and Scott Brown, a Republican, are engaged in a very intense race for the US Senatorial seat vacated by the death of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. As the race has tightened, Ms. Coakley seems to have become abusive and derisive toward Brown. She recently referred to him as an extreme right wing teabagger. The term has also been used by leftist poliltical commentatotrs such as Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and Anderson Cooper.

"Teabagger" was a reference to the 2009 Tea Party protests which arose to oppose the tax and spending policies of the Democrat-controlled United States government. "Tea Party" was a reference to the Boston Tea Party in which a group of men stormed a ship and threw its cargo of tea into Boston Harbor to protest King George's excessive taxation policy.

Using the word "teabagger" as an insult exposes what radio and television commentator Glen Beck spoke of on 15 Jan 2009. This is an offensive word and is so, especially, since some conservatives have adopted it without knowing its origin, which Beck declined to elaborate upon. I think adults can handle the truth so here is the explanation.

"Teabagging" is a slang term referring to a sexual act in which a man repeatedly places his scrotum into the mouth or on the face of another person, like dipping a tea bag into a cup of tea. In pornography, the act is a form of sado-masochism stressing male dominance and erotic humiliation. In its political usage, the term is an insult because it implies that those against whom it is directed are too stupid or innocent (read as "naive") to know what it means. Why, some of them even use it of themselves.

Recently, I had to tell an Indian co-worker why others were quietly giggling as he ran around searching and saying, "I lost my lunch! I lost my lunch!" When conservatives proudly declare, "I'm a teabagger!," progressives are silently giggling.