A discussion on a forum called QI also has information about this word's origin. Judy Bennett says:
Lieutenant James Cook beached his 'HM Bark Endeavour' in what is now Cooktown, in 1770 having damaged his ship on the Great Barrier Reef. He remained in the area for nearly seven weeks. The word 'kangaroo' was first recorded in the ships' journals during this time, and the animal was also drawn by Sidney Parkinson. The journals are held at the James Cook Museum in Cooktown. The first sighting of the animal was on June 24th 1770. They tried to shoot one for quite some time, finally Lieut. John Gore succeeding on July 14th. It was eaten at supper the following day.I've posted about this word previously.
Posts
3 comments:
Hi Parlance,
wondering if you can help. What does it mean when someone says "she is soooo catholic" or "you are so catholic"? I remember hearing this comment being made when I was younger but had forgotten till I heard someone describe another acquaintance recently. Sadly I cannot recall its meaning. best wishes therigatha
Hi, therigatha
I'd need a sense of the context in which it was said, but to me it sounds like a negative remark, as if the speaker thinks the person is too ruled by her religious beliefs, or even 'rules'.
On the other hand, 'catholic' (with a lower-case c) is often used to mean wide-ranging in taste, broad-minded, but only the context in which you hear the remarks would clarify which set of meanings is intended.
Do you get the sense that it's a criticism?
Here's what the Online Etymology Dictionary says:
mid-14c., "of the doctrines of the ancient Church," literally "universally accepted," from Fr. catholique, from L.L. catholicus "universal, general," from Gk. katholikos, from phrase kath' holou "on the whole, in general," from kata "about" + gen. of holos "whole" (see safe (adj.)). Applied to the Church in Rome c.1554, after the Reformation began. General sense of "of interest to all, universal" is from 1550s. As a noun, attested from 1560s.
My Macquarie Dictionary says:
adjective 1. relating to the whole Christian body or Church.
2. universal in extent; involving all; of interest to all.
3. having sympathies with all; broad-minded; liberal: to be catholic in one's tastes; to be catholic in one's interests. [Latin catholicus, from Greek katholikos universal]
That's very interesting, thank you parlance. No I didnt get a sense of it being a criticism. The person was trying to contextualise the other's artistic pursuits, and couldn't think of another way to describe them. As textile, fine art, craft and ceramics were all included.
Post a Comment