galileo

chained_bear commented on the word galileo

"Why do we call Galileo Galilei by his first name?" A particularly interesting article on Slate.com... if you're into Italian surname history (which I am).

I'm such a geek.

August 20, 2009

reesetee commented on the word galileo

Thanks, chained--great article.

August 20, 2009

yarb commented on the word galileo

Interesting - but I still don't understand why we call(ed) Saddam Hussein by his first name.

August 20, 2009

chained_bear commented on the word galileo

... out of sheer disrespect? I don't know either, actually.

August 21, 2009

reesetee commented on the word galileo

I wondered that too.

August 21, 2009

seanahan commented on the word galileo

Hussein is a very common name in the Middle East, the King of Jordan, for example. Maybe that has something to do with it.

August 21, 2009

fbharjo commented on the word galileo

Spanish and Italian are often quite close witness (with slight deviations that form the arms of a galaxy ???): Galisteo

Is the Italian boot trying to clarify the milky way? Is it what rubs off? (or what sticks?)meig- It would be cream skimming, if it were true! Lettuce decide! What releaf! What gaul!!! Galicia "true salt of the earth" as Pasternak subscribes. salt (hal-) How ruthian with care!

August 21, 2009

rolig commented on the word galileo

Saddam's full name is, according to Wikipedia (a source I distrust, but this information seems correct), Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti. The "Hussein" is actually a patronymic (his father's name) which is being used, for the convenience of the media, as a "last name". "Al-Tikriti" indicates where the family originates (the town of Tikrit). I am not sure about the "Abd al-Majid" part. I used to have an Armenian friend from Baghdad, who told me that his official Iraqi name consisted of his first name + his father's first name + his grandfather's first name. The Armenian family name never came into the picture. So it is a mistake to think of "Hussein" as Saddam's "surname" the way European last names are surnames.

August 21, 2009

bilby commented on the word galileo

I like the comment at the bottom of the article about the United States of Vespuccia.

August 21, 2009

yarb commented on the word galileo

Right, rolig. 'Hussein' is simply a 'surname' of convenience for Westerners, but it's strange that having this convention, anglophone politicians and media alike should then discard it in the case of the late tyrant.

And I wonder how the convention arose in this case. Why not "Saddam Tikriti" ("Tikriti" in short-form), along the lines of the Libyan leader Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi? Was it something instigated by SH himself? I wonder how he referred to himself in the media.

It's difficult because he was a figure of opprobrium for so long. As cb mentions earlier, calling him simply "Saddam" does imply disrespect. Can anyone remember what we called him when he was our friend?

August 22, 2009

dontcry commented on the word galileo

bear - very interesting. I learned. Good.

August 22, 2009

qroqqa commented on the word galileo

I understood (vaguely read/recalled) Saddam himself disfavoured the toponymic surname al-Takriti for some political reason: he didn't want to be identified too closely with a local clan, or some such.

August 22, 2009

chained_bear commented on the word galileo

"Nobody is listing Saddam Hussein. Why don't you?"

August 24, 2009

yarb commented on the word galileo

OK.

August 24, 2009