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Epiphany
OK. You can tell me the truth. It just occurred to me a week or two ago, that, my whole life--since my first name book at age 7--I have been led to believe by the nice baby name publishers that Andrea means "womanly."It doesn't, does it? It means "manly" and then when it transferred to becoming a woman's name, someone instinctively altered the meaning so as not to ruin it for the prospective parents of little Andrea's, lest we feel hairy.Go ahead; I can handle the truth.
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...before you start shaving... (Mike C please take note!)Yep, 'Andreia' in Greek generally means "manliness, manly spirit". But it also is synonymous to *braveness*. Aristotle does use the word in conjunction to women in Politics 1260a22 :)Under NO CICUMSTANCES does "andreia" mean "womanliness".Here are some "politically correct" etymologies of a couple of bona fide Greek girlie names related to Andrea:Andrafile : "friend of braveness" (file: friend)
Andragathe : "brave goodness" (agathos: goodness")
Andrea : "braveness in spirit"
Andreas : ditto
Andreia : ditto
Androdice: "braven and judicious" (Dikaio: judicious)
Androklea "brave and glorious" (Kleos: glory)
Andromache "braveness in battle" (Mache: battle)
Andromeda : "master of braveness" (Medon: master of)
Andronika: "braveness in victory" (Nike: victory)
Andronike : ditto
Androteleia: "braveness and perfection" (Telion: perfect)
Androtima : "Braveness and honor": (Time: honor, valor)P.S. For non-PC etymologies, replace "braveness" with "manliness" :PPP
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Andrea......since there doesn't seem to be any penalty for tweaking the meanings of names...(MacKenzie = daughter of Kenzie?)...I say we re-work these a bit... becomes...brazen godess
becomes...brazen & juiciliciousI think both of these are better than 'womanly'. Take your pick.
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Poor, dear, manly Andrea......another version of your name that I like is Andra.:-) Mom
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Omigawd! It's the lead drummer from "Send Me an Uzi"!:)
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Hi Nan!kd
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Thank you, Zelda, for your compassion. *s*:P
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I guess it won't help if I add that "Andrea" happens to be a masculine name in Italy? It's the Italian form of "Andrew". :)-- Nanaea
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That, I know. I found out in Italian class, and then when I back-packed through Europe. The Italian boys looked at me like I had said my name was John.Oh well...thanks. :)
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Just curious, but how many countries did you hit when you did the back-packing thing, Andrea? I'm very envious of you. The most peregrination I've ever done was through the British Isles.-- Nanaea
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France: Nice, Cannes and Paris
Italy: Milan, Venice and Verona
Monaco
Switzerland: Lausanne
Holland: Amsterdam
England: LondonI learned a lot of how I would NOT like to do Europe, if I go back again one day. This was in 1987. When I was in Cannes, I met this one-hit-wonder English band called Marillion. Their one hit was the song, "Kayleigh," then, an unusual name.
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Marillion is quite cool, in a semi-floydian sense :)
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A thought on the matter (txt)Not far from where I study some of the old University buildings are placed. They are built in a sort of Roman style and inside they have the most interesting motives from the greek mythology painted on the walls and in "fleshed" out in the form of statues.
It is all composed to a deeply symbolic way. I like to go there and ponder some of the riddles posed such as:Should one take the stairway of Athena or of Apollon towards the light above?orWhy rests the sphinx on the head of Athena ?Often while I sit there group upon group of guided tourists or groups of backpackers come in. Look around for about 20 minutes and then leave again sometimes looking as if they came for something they did not find...
I tend to conclude from that, that it must be better to be well prepared visiting a few places only, instead of visiting many places, which one sadly finds oneself unable to appreciate.
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Actually, that wasn't the trouble with my trip. I had three weeks and could have traveled a lot more. The problem lied in where I did go, and who I had traveled with.Next time, I would not go to major cities/tourist areas, but countrysides. And choose a traveling partner more wisely than I had done 14 years ago.My dream is to go hot-air ballooning over the Loire Valley!
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SelwynAmen, lad, amen.In fact, something that Rick Steves has said about travelling: It's best to plan on seeing just a few things and really enjoying them than to take in ALL the sights and missing out on them all. (Okay, I paraphrased).
BTW, I envy anybody who has the time and the finances to travel in a foreign country. Perhaps someday I'll do some study abroad. :)Phyllis (aka Sidhe Uaine or Gaia Euphoria)
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Worry not PhyllisOne day you will probably be a rich Sidhe once you find your ancestors hidden treasures. Then you can travel as often as you wish:)
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