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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.

Leif,

Let me respond seriously, expecially since....

I think it extraordinarily cool and neat that you went to the trouble to
type all that, and I find the information very interesting. (My American
Heritage Dictionary, 3ed, is five feet from my computer, so I know you
didn't miss a word. You will note, however, that under the "Philistia"
entry, the region in question is purported to be "southwest Palestine"? Need
I say more?

To answer your only question, there is no politically correct term for
Philistine to my knowledge, but no politically incorrect one either. Let me
add: Winners writes history (and dictionaries).

Home rule for Norway. (1865)

Michael