> > M Forstater wrote:
>>
>> << "what the hell are jimmies?! nobodies used that word for twenty
>years!"
>> tell me it's a regional thing, please.. >>
>>
>> It's a regional thing. Are you from New England? Every kid in
>Massachusetts
>> knows what jimmies are--I just had to pull my kid away from some in
>the
>> grocery store. Sugar and food dye. Yum. I think it said "Jimmies" on
>the
>> lid. But the term was never used in Michigan, where I grew up.
>>
>> Re funky names: Joyce The Voice (her legal name) is running for
>> alderman-at-large in Somerville, MA.
>==========
>So how come we admit the capriciousness and playfulness of naming each
>other, but when it comes to
>naming/temporalizing/historicizing/periodizing social and natural
>kinds we foam at the mouth?
Historicizing funky names from the 60s, we may say that the impulse toward self-fashioning that animated counter-culture had existed earlier among the Puritans.
***** Puritan Names
Although many C16th and C17th Protestants were content with Bible-sanctioned names, the more extreme Puritans did not consider even these pure enough. They invented their own abstract 'virtue' or 'slogan' names, some of which entered the common stock. Most of these could be used for either sex but the few modern survivals (Charity, Joy, Mercy etc.) are usually feminine.
<Virtues>
Abstinence Accepted Amity Arise Ashes Assurance Belief Charity Clemency Comfort Confidence Constancy Constant Continent Delivery Desire Diffidence Diligence Discipline Discretion Donation Dust Eart Earth Elected Experience Faith Faithful Fear Felicity Forsaken Fortune Given Godly Grace Gracious Handmaid Helpless Honesty Honour Hope Hopeful Humble Humiliation Humility Increased Joy Just Justice Lament Lamentation Love Meek Mercy Obedience Patience Peaceable Perseverance Piety Providence Prudence Purify Redeemed Reformation Rejoice Remember Renewed Repentance Resolved Return Salvation Steadfast Temperance Thankful Tribulation Troth Truth Verity Virtue Wrestling
<Slogans>
Be-courteous Be-faithful Be-thankful Faint-not Faith-my-joy Fear-not Fear-the-Lord Fight-the-good-fight-of-faith Fly-debate Fly-fornication Freegift From-above God-reward Hate-evil Help-on-High Hope-for Hope-still If-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned* Jesus-Christ-came-into-the-world-to-save Job-raked-out-of-the-ashes Joy-again Kill-sin Learn-wisdom Love-well Make-peace More-fruit More-trial Much-mercy No-merit Praise-God Safe-deliverance Safe-on-high Search-the-scriptures Seek-wisdom Sin-deny Small-hope Sorry-for-sin Stand-fast-on-high The-Lord-is-near The-peace-of-God Weep-not What-God-will Zeal-for-the-Lord Zeal-of-the-land
* Known as 'Damned' Barebone!
This collection of names compiled by Kate Monk. Copyright January 1997, Kate Monk. Last updated March, 99. Copies may be made for personal use only.
<http://www.flick.com/onomastikon/England-Medieval/Puritan.htm> *****
You may recall Increase Mather (1639-1723), the father of Cotton Mather (1663-1728).
Here's what Mark Twain said about Puritan names:
***** Pardon Todds has been nominated for the post of Indian Agent of Utah. That is the homliest of all the homely Puritan names I have stumbled on yet, except that of famous Praise-God Barebone. How could a man write an obituary on Pardon Todds, if he died, without making it intensely funny? That man will never survive his mission. The Indians will put up with a good deal, but they will never put up with an Agent with a name like that. Toddy, you are going to get scalped. That is what is in store for you.
MARK TWAIN
<http://www.twainquotes.com/18680227t.html> *****
Yoshie