Chrysti The Wordsmith: Eponyms - 7

Greetings verb of course less time on Christie the wordsmith. We looked at the life of the literary character Little Goody Two-Shoes whose name inspired a term referring to an annoyingly self righteous person. Today we'll investigate the biography of a very different female literary figure whose life and name we associate with sin repentance and tears. She's the New Testament character Mary Magdalen. One of Christ's disciples interpretations of the New Testament alternatively portray Mary Magdalen as a reformed prostitute or simply a sinner deeply repentant of her transgressions. It's traditionally believed that Mary Magdalen is the woman whose gratitude toward Christ compels her to wash his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. She's also the first to discover that Jesus has been resurrected from his burial tomb. Throughout history Mary Magdalen has been portrayed as a woman weeping in fear repentance and joy as a character in the miracle plays of the Middle Ages. She clung

to and wept at the feet of Christ and religious portraiture she weeps at the entrance of the empty tomb in Britain. Mary Magdalen's name is pronounced Magdeleine or model and this contraction gives us the word maudlin. M A you d l i n meaning sentimental or weepy after the literary and artistic portrayals of Mary's personality. I'm Christie the wordsmith. Good Dave herbivores. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.