Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Artscroll Word of the Week

Well it's back to basics, so here we go. Page 69b2, explaining why Nechemia is sometimes (twice actually) referred to as Hatirshasa:
Note 15 : The Yerushalmi explains the basis of this cognomen.
Encarta- cognomen: a nickname or name that describes somebody, e.g. "Billy the Kid"
Have thesaurus will travel!

6 comments:

SuperRaizy said...

That's a good one- I've never heard that word before.

Tr8erGirl said...

Me either! I wonder who over at Artscroll is responsible for such gems!

Lakewood Falling Down said...

SuperRaizy- I can always count on R'Scroll to teach me words yeshiva kids know!
Tr8terGirl- I hear that the vocabulary comes from a thousand monkeys tied to a thousand typwriters...

Lion of Zion said...

think appellation ;)

Jameel @ The Muqata said...

Cognomen? Wikipedia states the following: The cognomen (plural: cognomina) was originally the third name of an Ancient Roman in the Roman naming convention. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary (and thus more like a family name). Cognomen is derived from the prefix co- ("together with") and nomen ("name"). The term (with an Anglicized plural cognomens) has taken on a less specific meaning.

There are so many more appropriate words that Artscroll could have used; moniker, alias, nickname, pseudonym -- without having to revert to an Ancient Roman name.

No wonder Chazal were so opposed to translating the Tanach into the Septuagint.

I'm very happy using Artscroll's gemaras in Hebrew...I have a problem with their English works.

Lakewood Falling Down said...

Jameel, I wonder when Artscroll will come out with a translation for their translation!