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• soldier •

Pronunciation: sol-jêr • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A member of the army or armed forces. 2. An enlisted man or noncommissioned officer in an army. 3. A member of a social insect species whose job it is to defend the colony, as a soldier ant or bee.

Notes: Today's Good Word is so familiar that it has developed a large and healthy family. The adjective is soldierly "like a soldier", as soldierly behavior and the quality of being a soldier is either soldierliness or soldiership. All the soldiers of the world or any subgroup of them comprise a soldiery, a word that can also mean "knowledge of military matters". The noun itself becomes the verb, for every active soldier soldiers.

In Play: Soldiership, of course, is not something we play at. It is an activity that the soldiery of the world takes very seriously inasmuch as soldiers stake their lives in their occupation. In the US today we pause to display our respect for all those soldiers who have fallen around the world for causes in which they believed.

Word History: Today's Good Word slipped from French into Middle English as soudier around 1300. The Old French word was derived from sol or soud, the ancestral forms of Modern French sou "farthing, thing of little value", as in, "I wouldn't give a sou for you". The Old French sol was also a coin and the word from which the French word for "pay" was derived. It can still be seen today in French solde "sale". This word comes from Latin solidus, which became English solid, and originally referred to solid money. Since warriors originally served a feudal landlord for no pay, the original soldier was a mercenary, paid for his services, no doubt in sols.

Dr. Goodword,
Very appropriate post for this time of year. Thank you!
On Monday, we all need to remember the sacrifices made on our behalf by the men and women in uniform.
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a soldier!

Huh? Thank a soldier? As far as I know, the United States hasn't invaded Brazil. Not yet.

Brazilian dude

Huh? Thank a soldier? As far as I know, the United States hasn't invaded Brazil. Not yet.

Brazilian dude

neither has anyone else, be grateful.

mark

BD, in the U.S. today is a holiday called Memorial Day. It was a day set aside as an official day to remember the soldiers who who have been killed fighting for this country. According to sources, it either began in Coluimbus, Mississippi in 1866, or in Virginia in 1868 as a day to decorate the graves of the Civil War dead. It was originally known as Decoration Day and in time evolved into Memorial Day, a day to honor all U.S. war dead.
The saying I wrote is a sentiment that is shared by many Americans--to the point that it is a common bumper sticker. (As we know, the source of all wisdom.)
As far as I know, we haven't invaded Brazil! Not yet...

Okay, but neither of you said why I should thank for the fact that I can read this in English.

Brazilian dude

Hmmmm....of course any of us can thank (or not) whoever we want.
Who would you thank for your English skills?

BTW [on a nother note entirely] most of us (in the US) take for granted the basically festive nature of the holiday (e.g. the Indy 500, picnics, opening of the summer season, etc.). In other countries a memorial day can be a much more somber event.

In Israel, Memorial Day runs for the 24 hours before Independence Day. Memorial Day is opened with a very moving ceremony at the Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem. All of the music on the radio stations is appropriately somber, at 10:00 a.m. there is a two minute siren all accross the country, at which time all traffic and conversation stops and everyone stands at attention. There are memorial services at the military graveyards.

Before Independence Day begins the next evening, there is a ceremony to bring Memorial Day to a close. There is always a slight shock in moving from the catharsis of Memorial Day to the unabashed joy of Independence Day.

Who would you thank for your English skills?

Myself, mainly.

Brazilian dude

Huh? Thank a soldier? As far as I know, the United States hasn't invaded Brazil. Not yet.

Brazilian dude

Actually, BD, if it wasn't for the combined efforts Allied soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, merchant seaman, and civilian factory workers sixty-some-odd-years ago, we might be forced to read this in German, Japanese, or Italian.

----------------------------------------------------


Ven der Fuehrer says, "Ve iss der Master Race!"
Ve Heil! (Raspberry) Heil! (Raspberry) right in der Fuehrer's face.

(Wikipedia's entry)

I happen to agree with "stargzer" about the efforts of our great troops here in the good ole U S of A some 60-odd-years ago. I don't know German but this message was clear-lol. By the way, didn't a lot of Germans fleeing war crime tribunals flee to Brazil after WW ll? I also thought most Brazilians spoke mostly a Latin/German type combo. So I guess it IS amazing "BD" CAN speak English at all. It is because our soldiers have kept this country a free one indeed, and most of the free world does speak English-or some type of it- and I feel our great military can be thanked for that! I wonder-- does "BD" live in the USA or Brazil? Hmm??...I would never try to learn another language (other than that of my native or first language) without first knowing the meaning behind the language itself. It is simply called History!!

So I guess it IS amazing "BD" CAN speak English at all ... I would never try to learn another language (other than that of my native or first language) without first knowing the meaning behind the language itself. It is simply called History!!

Two very interesting statements...

Read some back posts, huny, and you will learn that BD "can" speak English (just for starters) due to a combination of ability, interest and study. Pretty much how any intelligent person learns about interests, military presence notwithstanding. He would be a knowledgeable and forthright resource to approach first-hand regarding the cultural and lexical origins of the language(s) spoken in his country, rather than falling back on guesses and innuendo. I do apologize if I've misread this; I don't know your style very well yet.

Secondly, it is becoming quite common to graduate from high school without having any understanding of the "history" behind the "native" language of English (nor the "meanings" of the successive military actions, and the sometimes unsavory persons either fleeing or establishing one regime or another) which helped to create it. A casual perusal of letters to the editor, interoffice emails, and message boards further reveals a very tenuous grasp on how to use first-language English coherently--right here in the USA. The ubiquitous presence of millions of yellow bumper ribbons "supporting our troops" has done nothing to alleviate this situation, nor to stimulate the general populace towards expressing patriotism by improving their literacy.

-gailr

And before those who do not know me get their cammies in a bundle; veterans are major figures among my relatives and friends. I respect their service and value them as individuals. Some of them are staunch supporters of education and following one's own conscience; others are most definitely not. Pretty much the range of attitudes I would expect to find in any cross-section of people, regardless of their country of origin or native language.

I happen to agree with "stargzer" about the efforts of our great troops here in the good ole U S of A some 60-odd-years ago. I don't know German but this message was clear-lol. By the way, didn't a lot of Germans fleeing war crime tribunals flee to Brazil after WW ll? I also thought most Brazilians spoke mostly a Latin/German type combo. So I guess it IS amazing "BD" CAN speak English at all. It is because our soldiers have kept this country a free one indeed, and most of the free world does speak English-or some type of it- and I feel our great military can be thanked for that! I wonder-- does "BD" live in the USA or Brazil? Hmm??...I would never try to learn another language (other than that of my native or first language) without first knowing the meaning behind the language itself. It is simply called History!!

1. Stargzer was talking about quote "the combined efforts [of] Allied soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, merchant seaman, and civilian factory workers", not about what you call "the efforts of our great troops here in the good ole U S of A". Please note the difference.
No menatally sane person would ever underestimate the US war efforts 60 years ago, but, believe me, they were not the only ones involved in fighting Nazi Germany, Japan, c.s. (Does names as Soviet Union, UK, Canada ring a bell?)

2. Quite some Nazis "fled" to the US, o.a. Wernher von Braun, one of the V2 specialists and member of the Nazi Party (some say since 1937, some claim it was already in 1932). Of course you are aware of the ravage done by such V2-rockets among the civilian population in Belgium (and other countries).

3. Reducing the reasons for the worldwide prominence of English only to the US war efforts of the last 60 years is historically naive, to put it mildly. It disregards 3 centuries of economic, cultural, scientific, political influence of the British Empire and later the Commonwealth and lot of other factors.

4.

I also thought most Brazilians spoke mostly a Latin/German type combo.

I might be wrong, but most Brazilians speak (Brazilian) Portuguese...

5.

So I guess it IS amazing "BD" CAN speak English at all. It is because our soldiers have kept this country a free one indeed, and most of the free world does speak English-or some type of it- and I feel our great military can be thanked for that! I wonder--

Oh my... Because your soldiers...
What exactly did you mean by "It is simply called History!!"?

Frank

"History is sad, because she is time, and knows she will be forgotten." (Andrey Platonov)

Actually, BD, if it wasn't for the combined efforts Allied soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, merchant seaman, and civilian factory workers sixty-some-odd-years ago, we might be forced to read this in German, Japanese, or Italian.

And what's the problem with that?
E qual è il problema in ciò?
Darin finde ich kein Problem.
問題じゃない。

Brazilian dude