"Michael Plant" > wrote in message
...
> Leif 2/2/04
>
>
> > What is the problem with Lipton's tea? Some Brit friends of mine laugh
at
> > the mention of it being a consumable tea? What about Red Rose. I enjoy
> > both of them. Does this make me a Philistine? *G*
> >
> > Leif
> >
> >
>
> Let me clarify this once and for all: There is *no* problem with Lipton's
> tea and you are *not* a Philistine, unless you want to be. Relax. Enjoy.
>
> Why do we disparage the people known as Philistines in this unkind, and
> inappropriate way, BTW?
>
> Michael
Is there a political correct term for Philistines?
Phil·is·tine (fil'i-sten', fi-lis'tin, -ten')
n.
1.. A member of an Aegean people who settled ancient Philistia around the
12th century B.C.
2..
1.. A smug, ignorant, especially middle-class person who is regarded as
being indifferent or antagonistic to artistic and cultural values.
2.. One who lacks knowledge in a specific area.
adj.
1.. Of or relating to ancient Philistia.
2.. often philistine Boorish; barbarous: "our plastic, violent culture,
with its philistine tastes and hunger for novelty" (Lloyd Rose).
[From Middle English Philistines, Philistines, from Late Latin Philistini,
from Greek Philistinoi, from Hebrew P?listîm, from P?leset, Philistia.]
WORD HISTORY It has never been good to be a Philistine. In the Bible
Samson, Saul, and David helped bring the Philistines into prominence because
they were such prominent opponents. Though the Philistines have long since
disappeared, their name has lived on in the Hebrew Scriptures. The English
name for them, Philistines, which goes back through Late Latin and Greek to
Hebrew, is first found in Middle English, where Philistiens, the ancestor of
our word, is recorded in a work composed before 1325. Beginning in the 17th
century philistine was used as a common noun, usually in the plural, to
refer to various groups considered the enemy, such as literary critics. In
Germany in the same century it is said that in a memorial at Jena for a
student killed in a town-gown quarrel, the minister preached a sermon from
the text "Philister über dir Simson! [The Philistines be upon thee,
Samson!]," the words of Delilah to Samson after she attempted to render him
powerless before his Philistine enemies. From this usage it is said that
German students came to use Philister, the German equivalent of Philistine,
to denote nonstudents and hence uncultured or materialistic people. Both
usages were picked up in English in the early 19th century.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton
Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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