Tuesday, February 26, 2013

1931 Tides of Time

What a difference the tides of time make. Especially when the times determine the culture.
Take Nimrod. I'm willing to bet you think Nimrod is an insulting term used to describe someone who is dull or slow on the uptake. As in, "Don't be such a Nimrod."
Interestingly, Nimrod was once a good term. It referred to someone who was a great hunter. Back in the days when people were a little more conversant with the Bible, they knew this. Nimrod was like the great-grandson of Noah or something, and known far and wide for his hunting prowess.
It wasn't until the cartoon era that Nimrod took on a different meaning. And it was Bugs Bunny who did it. In one episode with Elmer Fudd, who was hunting him, Bugs bowed down to him and called him "Oh Great Nimrod" in suitably sarcastic manner.
The new Elmer Fudd-like Nimrod was born in our culture.
Siwwy Wabbit.
Saw another cultural time bend recently. The governor was speaking at an event and he was talking about a little kid turning over rocks looking for crabs on the seashore. Then the Governor said, "And I had a flash..." and went on to describe his... insight.
"I had a flash". Not, "I had an epiphany" or, "insightful memory" or, "inspiration." No, he had a flash, like a 60's mind-expanding hippie. Funny, I've said the same thing. The age of Aquarius is now middle aged. I love the way language reflects our culture.
Lastly, I had a flash recently when the Pope resigned. He's the first Pope to use Twitter to tweet, and he's also the first Pope in 6 centuries to resign.
My flash? When that Pope tweeted 600 years ago, he used actual birds.
America, ya gotta love it.

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