wwp@yahoogroups.com:
Re: Sustenance - what does it mean?
Caroling Geary 2007-Sep-04 19:43:00
I was going to explain how I use the word. But that would be in
English. Could it be that this rather uncommon word is used
differently and has different connotations in each of our different
languages? Of course we have the translation problem for all words,
even between two people speaking the same language, supposedly.
In English, sustenance has been getting a great expansion in meaning
due to the "buzz" word, "sustainability". It has come to mean every
kind of local action that is good for the world. In other words,
recycling would not be sustenance, but it would be a sustainable
practice, helping to conserve natural resources.
The map would not be sustenance, specifically, which to me would
imply some kind of nourishment. Most maps aren't edible. But the map
would help sustain your trip. It would help your trip be sustainable.
You could explain this by the fact that without the map you might go
way off course, wasting time and energy, and perhaps never getting to
your destination, making the trip unsustainable.
Thinking this out, I can see that the meaning of sustenance is
difficult, practically unsustainable. I'm starting to think we might
benefit from an essay by the people who created this theme. I wonder
what they had in mind. Maybe they just meant food. Which could be
food for thought. There we go again.
On Sep 4, 2007, at 12:38 PM, Rolf Ris wrote:
> Sustenance....?
>
> Could it be, that everything that supports something
> can be interpreted as sustenance?
>
> In this case a map which helps me to find a place
> can also be a kind of sustenance?
> Or signs which shows me the way?
>
Caroling Geary, www.wholeo.net