August 15, 2016

Point: "The writhing form of his beloved under his touch requires concentration and dedication, sensitivity to her needs, humility in face of her beauty..."

"... vulnerability to receive what is given in the form of delight, endurance (both physical and mental), thoughtfulness, practice, anticipation, perseverance, humor, tact, joy, laughter, courage, patience and communication, just to name a few."

Counterpoint: "Mr. Williams, stop having sex with your wife for a moment and see if she’s all right. That’s not usually how sex works.... Can Joe Schmoe and his wife really only refrain from quarrels and take turns doing the dishes if the sex is excellent and plentiful? Well, how did Joe and Mrs. Schmoe meet in the first place? What qualities was Mrs. Schmoe drawn to in her future spouse? Not generosity or forgiveness or industry, apparently, because Williams claims we learn those from sexual intercourse."

ADDED: I got distracted from all that sex onto the question of how to spell Schmoe. I would have thought Schmo, which was, after all, the spelling used for the old "Joe Schmo Show" (remember I used to blog that?). I'm pleased to see that Wikipedia has an entry for "Joe Shmoe" (notice: that's a third spelling):
Joe Shmoe (also spelled Joe Schmoe and Joe Schmo and "Yo Hschmo"), meaning 'Joe Anybody', or no one in particular, is one of the most commonly used fictional names in American English. Adding a "Shm" to the beginning of a word is meant to diminish, negate, or dismiss an argument (for instance, "Rain, shmain, we've got a game to play"). This process was adapted in English from the use of the "schm" prefix in Yiddish to dismiss something; as in, "Fancy, schmancy." While "schmo" ("schmoo," "schmoe") was thought by some linguists to be a clipping of Yiddish "schmuck", an etymology supported by the Oxford English Dictionary, that derivation is not universally accepted.
What are the other commonly used fictional names in American English? Wikipedia lists and has separate articles for Joe Bloggs, John Doe, John Q. Public, and Average Joe. What about Joe Blow? He's mentioned in the entry for John Q. Public:
Similar terms include John Q. Citizen and John Q. Taxpayer, or Jane Q. Public, Jane Q. Citizen, and Jane Q. Taxpayer for a woman. The name John Doe is used in a similar manner. The term Tom, Dick and Harry is often used to denote multiple hypothetical persons.

Roughly equivalent are the names Joe Blow, Joe Six-pack, the nowadays less popular Joe Doakes and Joe Shmoe, the last of which implies a lower-class citizen....
The last of which? Like  Joe Blow and Joe Six-pack are swanky fellows.

And here's "Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq.," by Edgar Allan Poe. Excerpt:
"My dear Thingum," replied father, (I had been christened Thingum after a wealthy relative so surnamed,) "My dear Thingum," he said, raising me from my knees by the ears- "Thingum, my boy, you're a trump, and take after your father in having a soul. You have an immense head, too, and it must hold a great many brains. This I have long seen, and therefore had thoughts of making you a lawyer. The business, however, has grown ungenteel and that of a politician don't pay. Upon the whole you judge wisely;- the trade of editor is best:- and if you can be a poet at the same time,- as most of the editors are, by the by, why, you will kill two birds with the one stone. To encourage you in the beginning of things, I will allow you a garret, pen, ink, and paper, a rhyming dictionary; and a copy of the 'Gad-Fly.' I suppose you would scarcely demand any more."
Thingum, my boy, you're a trump...

Trump! Got to get back to my regular blogging. Or do I? We could go down the rathole forever.... into the dark, devilish, spidery doom of the internet.

30 comments:

Clayton Hennesey said...

Could the anti-tampon be the antidote to excessive Patheos writhing?

rhhardin said...

The Education of T. C. Mits

rhhardin said...

As for writhing beloved, each will leave for somebody better, if that's the basis.

rhhardin said...

Not that it wouldn't make a ratings-gold olympic sport.

A lot of gender division possibilities too.

rhhardin said...

Bring back MAD magazine's "The Planet with 26 Sexes," the difficulty of picking up all the necessary genders in bars for a hookup. Mu's are so stand-offish.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Couldn't make it past the paragraph espousing the eternal virginity of Mary. I realize it is Patheos, so that is not surprising, but you pretty much lose all of your Protestant readers right there.

https://bible.org/question/did-mary-have-any-children-other-jesus-if-so-how-can-she-be-eternal-virgin

Nonetheless, I agree with the overall point of the article, sex is not the end-all and be-all of marriage, and comparing it to the pouring out of Christ on the Cross is beyond bizarre. Apparently the man who wrote it hasn't heard of St. Paul at all.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

When it comes to marriage, sex is the icing on the cake.

Have you ever noticed how quickly even a delicious cake goes stale if you don't cover it with icing?

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Ann Althouse said...We could go down the rathole forever.... into the dark, devilish, spidery doom of the internet.

Spiders in the ratholes, or rats in the spiderholes? Spidery doom is clearly a Shelob and Mt. Doom reference, but I'm not going to fall for the Two Towers/hobbit/Frodo, Sam, and Gollum trick (where you obviously want us to speculate and argue over which presidential candidate most resembles which Tolkien character); no ma'am, not gonna fall for it.

traditionalguy said...

Monday, Monday, can't trust that day...Oh, Monday morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be posted on Althouse. This one trumps them all.

gilbar said...

I'm pretty sure that Mrs Schmo's first name is Maureen. People call her Mo.

Bad Lieutenant said...

We could go down the rathole forever

Rathole, or rabbit hole (a la Alice in Wonderland/The Matrix)?

--Actually I'm surprised you'll enter any kind of hole, as it would seem to usurp your sense of control.

Nowhere to go but forward and back, wherever the digger bids; and you could get blocked in anytime, not to mention lost in a maze. Holes are nasty, dirty, cramped, often damp and smelly (ha, you wish). You can't let your hair down in a hole. Water, rat poison, gasoline, etc, can be poured down into the hole, perhaps without even knowing you're in there. The hole is only as wide as someone else chose. It could close in on you at any time. And if not well dug in solid ground, could collapse on you.

Should think it better for you to be the hole, and be entered rather than do the perilous entering. But you prefer to be impenetrable.

Okay, that's about six feet down: first rule of holes...

Michael said...

The old Li'l Abner comic strip occasionally featured a whole species of creatures known as schmoes (not sure of the spelling.) As best I can recall they were kinda lovable but invasive and destructive and multiplied rapidly.

pdug said...

Or maybe Mary and Joseph had sex, and had children from the sex. The Roman Catholic/EO view that Mary and Joseph never had sex is part of tradition and special pleading, but scripture is pretty clear there were other children, and that "he did not know her *until* she had brought forth a son"

RCs are so weird on Virginity of Mary they claim her hymen wasn't even ruptured by the birth of Jesus. Nice, unnecessary, trick; as if an intact hymen were the main thing about virginity.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

RCs are so weird on Virginity of Mary they claim her hymen wasn't even ruptured by the birth of Jesus. Nice, unnecessary, trick; as if an intact hymen were the main thing about virginity.

I did not know that detail. That is weird.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Though apparently some atheists/hedonists are just as weird because I have seen arguments about virginity being a "social construct" that include the fact that the hymen can be ruptured without a woman having sex. Yes, that is true, but what is the point?

Ann Althouse said...

"The old Li'l Abner comic strip occasionally featured a whole species of creatures known as schmoes (not sure of the spelling.) As best I can recall they were kinda lovable but invasive and destructive and multiplied rapidly."

That's Shmoos!

Blogged here:

Ann Althouse said...

"Cartoonist Al Capp was already world-famous and a millionaire in 1948 when he introduced an armless pear-shaped character called the Shmoo into his daily "Li'l Abner" strip. The unusual creature loved humans. A Shmoo laid eggs and bottles of Grade A milk in an instant, and would gladly die and change itself into a sizzling steak if its owner merely looked at it hungrily. Its skin was fine leather, its eyes made perfect buttons and even its whiskers made excellent toothpicks. Shmoos multiplied much faster than rabbits, so owning a pair of Shmoos meant that any family was self-sufficient. Of course the Shmoos proved too good for humanity's sake and therein was the basis for Capp's ultimate (and tragic) satire...."

rhhardin said...

Mary lost her virginity horseback riding is the official line.

rhhardin said...

Shmoo, flop over.

rhhardin said...

Some drinking straw manufacturer in grade school had a name similar enough to shmoo to cause the topic to come up a lot at lunch.

That was when HOMO MILK was stamped on each milk carton. Probably no longer true.

Purple ink.

Mark said...

You guys belittling the chastity of the Virgin Mary do realize that you are exhibiting the same "sex is the be all and end all" mentality of this schmo Ryan Williams?

pdug said...

Not really. Just referencing a protestant/catholic debate.

walter said...

"I got distracted from all that sex onto the question of how to spell Schmoe."
That's not how sex usually works.
But it's Ann's "schtick" ;)

Ron Winkleheimer said...

You guys belittling the chastity of the Virgin Mary do realize that you are exhibiting the same "sex is the be all and end all" mentality of this schmo Ryan Williams?

No, actually just the opposite. The insistence on Mary's eternal virginity is a manifestation of that mentality. It gives sex an weight and authority it does not have.

Sex was created by God. The "be fruitful and multiply" instruction was given to Adam and Eve before the fall and their expulsion. Sex, like every other physical pleasure, is lawful so long as it is confined to the strictures that God commanded for it. Even Paul said that couples should not deprive one another. Mary was married to Joseph, it would be perfectly natural for them to have sex and have children. As the Bible indicates they did.

Mark said...

Do you Mary-had-sex Protestants think that there will be sex in heaven?

walter said...

So what is God up to by decreasing the age of puberty?

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Do you Mary-had-sex Protestants think that there will be sex in heaven?

Do you Mary-never-had-sex Catholics think that there will be sex after the general resurrection and we have glorified bodies?

Generally, the whole "no marrying and giving in marriage” thing is taken to mean no sex in the afterlife. But the fact of the matter is I just don't know. However, what does that question have to do with whether or not Mary was a perpetual virgin. She and Joseph were definitely married. It says so in the Bible. And isn't not having sex grounds for annulment in the Catholic Church? The assumption being that if you don't consummate the marriage, you aren't really married at all. And every translation of the Bible I have seen states that Joseph didn't have relations with Mary until after she gave birth to Jesus.

Let me check my Catholic Study Bible. Here it is Matthew 1:25 "He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus."

And the notes at the bottom of the page state 'The Greek word "until" does not imply normal marital conduct after Jesus' birth, nor does it exclude it.'

So we are back to the basic Catholic/Protestant dispute. Sola Scriptura vs. Catholic tradition and councils

Bart said...

Wow all these comments about sex and Mary, and not one about the most interesting parts of the post dealing with generic names.
My favorite is "Joe Shit the Ragman".
Don't hear it much but is my favorite when swearing is in order.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

The more interesting thing to me is the high level of emotion in the Patheos blogger. She is VERY VERY bothered by the idea that this young man and his wife are having awesome sex and seeing it as healthy for their sacramental marriage. She whacks away wildly at strawmen, insisting that hey you can have love and intimacy without sex!!!!11!! when his initial piece did not say you can't. Suggests to me that her own intimate life may be lacking, which is fine and none of my business, but she chose to attack him, so she's opened herself to comments on the topic. A more secure and mature voice would have looked fondly at him and said, "It's wonderful and right to bond through great sex, but you will have many other non-sexual opportunities to learn to love, cherish and serve each other. Isn't marriage great?!"

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Also: that's not usually how sex works

Speak for yourself, lady.