Valentine's Day double-take

[vakkotaur]

I know not everyone is thrilled with Valentine's day. Some seem to love it, some seem to loathe it, and some like the general idea but think the commercialism of it has, like that of every other commercialized day or event, gone too far.

While I'm not amazingly thrilled with Valentine's day, or what it has become, I can't say I hate it. The sappiness I can deal with. The roses and chocolates and such delivered around work are no problem. Even the commercialism doesn't really affect me all that much. There is something that bugs me, though.

It's a fairly minor thing, really, and I know it. It's a poorly thought out abbreviation. I know that the preferred term nowadays for, to put it more delicately than perhaps is needed, illnesses which are often spread by quite intimate contact is STD. I know that, but I still find it very jarring whenever I see good wishes for February 14 expressed as "Happy VD."

Comments

[ginafae.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean...

There is a radio station around here that has a concert on Feb 14 every year and they call it a VD Party. I am sure they mean both meanings... but every time I am shocked.

[tkcoyote.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* A friend of mine were just joking about that the other night. It is quite sad though...it makes me wonder if the writer even knows what they're writing out, or if they're being just plain lazy.

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

The perfect VD gift!
http://www.giantmicrobes.com/venereals/

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Heh, VD for VD, but no need to visit a clinic. If someone gets a bunch of those, is it then a case of VD?

[aedifica]

Walking back from lunch today I passed a bank with a scrolling display of Valentine's Day trivia. The question and answer I saw were "What is the Roman name of the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite?" The answer, of course, was Venus. I wanted to add a follow-up question: "What English word is derived from her name?" "Venereal."

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

The planetary god names are in use, yep. Though mercurial, martial, jovial, and saturnine seem to be a bit more in use and have less of a negative association than venereal. Being used as a description of disease really seems to have done in venereal which is now rather typecast.

I don't know of any words associated with the more recently discovered planets, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. I suppose one could argue that Vesta (an asteroid, or minor planet) has vestal, but the use is rather limited. And Ceres (another asteroid).. well, cereal has become a noun.

[aedifica]

I have a nagging feeling that there's an adjectival form of the word Pluto, but I can't remember what it is nor what it means. I may even just be thinking of "platonic," which is something else entirely. :-)

I think it's not so much the planetary connection as the mythological connection, though - for example, Ceres. Which would you name a grain after, an asteroid or the goddess of agriculture? (And is it just my fading brain tonight, or are all these astronomical names from Roman mythology rather than Greek?)

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure of the Roman vs. Greek thing, but the gods relationship is certainly the key to things. The planetary is simply an effect of them being given names of the gods. Mercury is fastest and difficult to spot in the sky. Venus is very bright and 'shines' beautifully in the evening (or morning) sky. Mars is certainly red. Jupiter... well, is fairly bright and doesn't stay near the sun. Saturn moves slowest of the readily visible planets. Ceres and Vesta, like Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, were named much more recently.

[taper.livejournal.com]

"Plutonic" is all the adjective you get, it seems; it means related to igneous rock that solidified deep under the surface, like granite. A mass of plutonic rock is a pluton, or maybe a batholith. Derived of course from the god of the underworld.

(A writer of my acquaintance likes using the term 'plutonic love', where lust is enhanced by money, but I think he's an outlier.)

[kinkyturtle.livejournal.com]

Well of course there are the elements: uranium, neptunium and plutonium.

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

"What English word is derived from her name?" "Venereal."

Yes, but also "venerated".

[aedifica]

Ah! I didn't realize. (And I meant no disrespect to the goddess, only amusement.)