PostHeaderIcon An Avatar by Any Other Name Is a... er, a... hmm.

In Second Life, we don't even give a second thought to the word 'avatar'. We know what it means, what it represents. In fact, it's such a pert of our Second Life (SL) lexicon, that we have even gone to changing the name and word, keeping it's basic meaning: "avie".

It's no secret our language changes over time. Listen to rap music sometime. If only the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) knew what half that language meant, they'd shut-down half the radio stations in the country.

And in the United States, well... there are two versions of the english language. We bastardize it so bad, that it is referred to as "American English". Leaving the other to simply be known as "English", or more accurately 'World English.

For example: to turn your body 180 degrees from whence you were facing is usually called "turn about". However, in the United States. it's "turn around". And now with the advent of the Internet, there comes 'netspeak'. My personal pet peeve,

Netspeak is laziness, plain and simple. And if you were to try to communicate with me using netspeak, I am going to do whatever I can to call you out on it and embarrass the hell out of you. An example of of netspeak might be...

Proper: "Thank you. How have you been? Please scuse me a moment, I need tp step away from the keyboard for a moment and will be right back."

Netspeak" "ty. how u? afk, brb."

Idiots.

In other cases, our language simply evolves. As much as I hated English lessons in school, a lot of it has turned into my pet peeve. But I also find it fascinating to learn the history of things. Especially phrases and words in our language.

For example, most of us have heard the term "the whole nine-yards". Do you know where that comes from? In World War II, many American fighter planes were loaded up with machine-gun rounds that were clipped together in a strip. That strip, when stretched-out on the ground was measured at nine-yards long. This was a full load of ammunition.

When returning from an aerial dogfight, a fighter pilot would often proclaim "I can him the whole nine-yards!" And thus, "whole nine-yards" has morphed into meaning "I gave him everything."

So, back to the word "avatar". I accidentally ran across a fascinating history of the word and had no idea it originates from a description of a 'God'. If you have the time (it's a long, technical read,) you might just find it as interesting as I did.

But then again, I'm wierd.

ty 4 read me. afk now, brb soon.
Derived from the Sanskrit avatar, meaning "descent," avatar first appeared in English in 1784 to mean an incarnation or human appearance of a deity, particularly Vishnu. Hindu mythology avers that 10 incarnations of the peace-loving divinity will appear on Earth, each an avatar, or "descent," of the god himself. (That Vishnu has four arms is not in dispute. As to the qualities of his bosom, however, the Vedas are mute.) From that celestial origin, the term's meaning expanded beyond the strictly religious, coming to mean something akin to "an embodiment, or object of worship," as in David Masson's 1859 derogation of John Donne (a poet whose claim to the metaphysical was of a wholly different stripe) in his book The Life of John Milton.

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