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In areas of ancient Eastern Europe people were so frightened of bears that speaking the actual word for "bear" was extremely taboo [1]. I would guess that this
by jerrycruncher 9y ago
In areas of ancient Eastern Europe people were so frightened of bears that speaking the actual word for "bear" was extremely taboo [1]. I would guess that this sort of linguistic indirection/substitution has existed as long as spoken language. In the past the rationale was superstition and fear, now it's sensitivity and fear.
[1] http://www.pitt.edu/~votruba/qsonhist/bearetymologyslovakenglishwelsh.html http://www.pitt.edu/~votruba/qsonhist/bearetymologyslovakeng...
- lukasm 9y agoInteresting. This must be the origin of "he who must not be named"
- grkvlt 9y agoMeh. The whole 'he who must not be named' thing is drawing on the idea in magical thought that by uttering the 'true name' of some evil entity, you somehow grant it power. So not mentioning Voldemort by name is a way of denying him that.