Names of States
Proverbs
Capital Punishment
Oklahoma
Thanksgiving Day 2007
5,280 Feet in a Mile
“KO” and “OK”

Names of States
07/11/01

Among the many different definitions of the word “state” are political units. Japan is a “state” composed of 47 “prefectures.” The United States of America is a “state” which includes fifty separate “states.” Ten of those states have two words in their names. How many of them can you name? Four of them begin with “New;” five begin with a word indicating a direction: “North,” “South” or “West.” Before reading the names given below, see how many of them you can name. Names beginning with “New” imply a relation with an “old” place or person in another country. Those beginning with a direction imply a division within or a separation from a former unit. Names of states beginning with “New” are: New Jersey (an island off the coast of England), New Hampshire (an English county), New York (in honor of the Duke of York) and New Mexico (just across the river from Mexico). “Dakota” comes from a Native American word meaning “friend, ally.” Because residents of the Dakota Territory could not agree on a capital city, it was divided into North and South, which were received into the Union as the 39th and 40th states. The name “Carolina” is related to the name of King Charles of England and the colony divided into north and south units before the Revolutionary War. In the case of West Virginia, however, its separation from Virginia (named in honor of the English queen Elizabeth, known as the “Virgin Queen”) was the result of Virginia’s decision to join the Confederate states and withdraw from the Union. Finally, Rhode Island, named after an island in the Mediterranean Sea, was the last of the 13 original colonies to ratify the Constitution in 1790. (1102)

Proverbs
07/11/08

Etymology is the study of the origin and development of words, a very fascinating study, which has stimulated the composition of many of these messages. This message is focused on “proverb,” an English word derived from Latin terms meaning “forth” and “word,” defined as “a short, pithy saying in frequent and widespread use that expresses a well-known truth or fact.” The famous Spanish novelist, Cervantes, referred to a proverb as “a short sentence based on long experience.” The Japanese word for “proverb” is kotowaza. When I first heard this word, I thought it was composed of two Japanese words: koto and waza, but I found out that the single Chinese character for this word is composed of two parts meaning “word” and a classical term for “a fine man.” Both of these radicals may be pronounced “gen” when used separately, but it seems that the character implies that a kotowaza is the “word of a fine man.” In the first part of the Bible, called the “Old Testament,” there is a book of “Proverbs,” which begins with the words “The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.” In this case, however, “Proverbs” is translated shingen, literally meaning “instruction” or “admonition word.” In the book of Proverbs, there are many instructive words that Jews, Christians and others have considered proper to follow. According to the prologue, these proverbs were written “for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair” (1:2-3). I believe it would be beneficial for you also to regularly read and meditate upon the proverbs written there. (1103)

Capital Punishment
07/11/11

The building in which a state legislature assembles may be called a “capitol.” A homonym, in which the “o” is changed to an “a,” has a number of different meanings. It may mean the city which is the official seat of government or the material wealth accumulated by a corporation. It may refer to the large letter in the word at the beginning of a sentence or in a proper noun. As an adjective, it may denote something very serious, involving death. “Capital punishment” signifies the death penalty, which is the most severe punishment that can be executed. Forms of capital punishment have changed over the years and are different, depending on cultural traditions. “Stoning,” throwing stones at a sinner or criminal, was an ancient form of capital punishment noted in the Bible. “Beheading,” or “decapitation,” was another form, which became more acceptable with the development of the “guillotine.” At times, those convicted of religious crimes in particular were tied to a stake under which a fire was lit and the heretic was “burned at the stake.” “Hanging,” a more common kind of capital punishment, made use of a noose around the neck of the criminal. Using an “electric chair” to electrocute a convict was a less painful way to terminate his life. At the present time, the “lethal injection” of certain drugs has become the common form of capital punishment in the United States of America, but the Supreme Court must consider whether this method is permissible or is a “cruel and unusual punishment,” which the Constitution does not permit. Jesus’ attitude related to capital punishment is seen in his response to the stoning of a woman caught in the act of adultery: Let any person without sin cast the first stone (John 8:1-11). (1104)

Oklahoma
07/11/16

Exactly one hundred years ago, on November 16,1907, President Theodore Roosevelt signed a proclamation admitting the 46th state into the United States of America. It was the state of Oklahoma and the quill pen he used had been fashioned from an eagle feather found in the mountains in the southeastern area of the new state. Since that time, only four other states have been added to the Union: New Mexico and Arizona in 1912 and Alaska and Hawaii in 1959. Located between Kansas and Texas, Oklahoma is one of three states that have a “panhandle,” which my dictionary defines as “a narrow strip of territory projecting from a larger, broader area to which it belongs in such a way that its borders as drawn on a map appear to outline the handle of a pan.” The other two states are Texas and Florida. The name, Oklahoma, is composed of two words of a Native American language, meaning “red people.” Many of the inhabitants of the new state were Native Americans who had been driven from their home areas further east by the “white” invaders from Europe and the meaning of that name reminds us that not all people fit into the common divisions of skin color as white, black or yellow. Native Americans are sometimes classified as “red.” For many years, cotton was the major crop of this area and “black” Afro-American slaves were the harvesters. During the Civil War, residents in the Oklahoma area sided with the Confederacy. In more recent years, the state has become rich because of the oil found underground. The state flower of Oklahoma is the mistletoe, which is well known as a Christmas decoration. (1105)

Thanksgiving Day 2007
07/11/20

A “Thanksgiving Day” had been observed by European settlers in what became the United States of America since before the legal establishment of this country. A newly published book, entitled America’s REAL First Thanksgiving, asserts that the first Thanksgiving Day was held in St. Augustine, Florida on September 8, 1565, over fifty years before the generally accepted “first Thanksgiving Day” in Jamestown, Virginia or the Plymouth Colony in New England. In 1789, the nation’s first president, George Washington, made the following Thanksgiving Proclamation: “[Let us thank God] for his kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation . . . for the great degree of tranquility, union and plenty which we have enjoyed . . . for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness.” During the Civil War, in October 1863, President Abraham Lincoln made this Thanksgiving proclamation: “It has seemed to me fit and proper that [the gifts of God] should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.” Since 1941, the fourth Thursday of November has been officially designated “Thanksgiving Day,” so this year’s celebration, on November 22 is the earliest possible date.(1106)

5,280 Feet in a Mile
07/11/25

Over 200 years ago, a new system of weights and measures was conceived and developed in France. Since a “meter” was its basic unit of length, it was called the “metric system” and units in the system are all multiples of 10. Originally, one meter was intended to be 1/10,000,000 of the distance between the equator and either the North or South Pole, but because of errors in the original survey, a meter was redefined in terms of a certain standard kept in France. The metric system has now spread around the world and has been adopted by most of the technologically developed countries. Although legislation for voluntary conversion to the metric system within ten years was passed by the U. S. Congress in 1975, most of the common citizens of the U. S. A. who are not involved in scientific or international work continue to use the old English system in which there are 12 inches in one foot, 3 feet in 1 yard and 5280 feet in 1 mile. The reason for this odd number of feet in a mile has been described as follows. When the Roman Empire ruled Britain (from the 1st to the 5th centuries A.D.), they had a measurement known as milia pasuum (“thousands of paces”), which roughly equaled 5000 feet. When the Roman Empire fell, the British kept that “mile” but eventually changed its length because they wanted to combine it with the furlong, a land measure of 660 feet and to make 8 furlongs equal one mile, which made the mile 5,280 feet. The reason they chose the longer mile was because a shorter mile would have meant a smaller measure of land and landowners did not want this to happen, so a mile became 5,280 feet long.(1107)

“KO” and “OK”
07/11/29

When the two capital letters, K and O, are written together in either order, popular American expressions are created. “KO,” meaning, “knock out,” is a term used in boxing to signify the knocking down of one’s opponent and winning the bout. “OK,” with or without periods, is an expression of approval and may also be spelled “okay.” There are many theories regarding the original meaning and usage of “O. K.” President Wilson thought it was a Choctaw Indian word and should properly be spelled “Okeh.” He persuaded a record company of the 1920s to call their product “Okeh Records.” A more popular theory is that it was an abbreviation for the Old Kinderhook Club, a club of Democratic supporters of the candidate for president in 1840, Michael Van Buren, who was from Kinderhook, New York. Other theories include (1) the initials of a railroad freight agent, Obadiah Kelly, who initialed bills of lading, (2) an Indian chief, Old Keokuk, who wrote his initials on treaties, (3) the boxes of Orrins-Kendall crackers, which were popular with Union troops during the Civil War, (4) the letters are an abbreviation of “oll korrect,” a misspelling of “all correct,” which was incorrectly attributed to President Andrew Jackson. In modern English, “O. K.” may be used as a noun, a verb or an interjection, so it is OK to simply say “OK” to express your approval. Also, all of the fifty states in the United States of America now have postal codes composed of two capital letters that are different from simple abbreviations, and “OK” is the postal code for the state of Oklahoma. (1108)