Re: SV: SV: [MiNT] XaAES 0.901

["Konrad M. Kokoszkiewicz" <draco@obta.uw.edu.pl>]

> > > Any russians here to confirm that?
> > 
> > I am not a russian, but close enough... Well, the russian for "union" is
> > "soyuz", so not very similar. And I'd really like to avoid an association
> > between XaAES and the evil empire...
> Konrad, it's just a word!

Well yes, it is just a word and perhaps I am skewed. However, the word has
for me a strong conotation with the dark reality I had to live into as few
as 10 years ago. Words are words, but they reflect expressions, objects
and phenomena, and thus cause natural associations with these. In other
words, the "soyuz" sounds very negatively for me, and would be probably
the same if you'd rename the XaAES to "NKWD" or "NSDAP" or "Red Army rapes
your wife". All these are just words.

To end this, the word "soyuz" itself is rather interesting. It means an
"union" (to my knowledge), but the same word in Polish (sojusz) stands for
"alliance". This is the same word and if I am right, it was borrowed from
Latin through some other language, perhaps Czech, German, or French. The
origin of it is the same as in English "society".

The meaning change from "alliance" to "union" has taken place apparently
at the time of the USSR. The first four words of the Soviet hymn say
"Soyouz nierushimiy riespublik svobodnich", which means "the solid
alliance of free republics", and that was the intention. However, this
was not true ("four words, four lies" people used to say at that time),
because in fact the USSR wasn't an alliance, it was an union. And since
the word "soyuz" occurred in the state's name, this usage influenced the
meaning.

This is why abandoning some words because of political correctness reasons
will never work, because PC replacements will quickly wear the same
negative conotations, odours and tastes, as the original word had. That's
why the PC concept is silly.

Sorry for that off topic stuff.

--
Konrad M.Kokoszkiewicz
mail: draco@atari.org
http://draco.atari.org

** Ea natura multitudinis est,
** aut servit humiliter, aut superbe dominatur (Liv. XXIV,25)
*************************************************************
** Taka to juz natura pospolstwa, ze albo sluzy ono unizenie,
** albo bezczelnie sie panoszy.