Comments on: Forget about the “Dark Ages” http://www.dailywritingtips.com/forget-about-the-%e2%80%9cdark-ages%e2%80%9d/ Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:28:21 -0500 hourly 1 By: Peter http://www.dailywritingtips.com/forget-about-the-%e2%80%9cdark-ages%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-189181 Peter Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:21:59 +0000 http://www.dailywritingtips.com/?p=3278#comment-189181 Andy: I suspect that's 'cos Americans misspell it without the "a"; it <i>looks</i> rather like "med-evil" ("i" is such a narrow little easily-ignored letter) :) Andy: I suspect that’s ‘cos Americans misspell it without the “a”; it looks rather like “med-evil” (”i” is such a narrow little easily-ignored letter) :)

]]> By: Andy Knoedler http://www.dailywritingtips.com/forget-about-the-%e2%80%9cdark-ages%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-188940 Andy Knoedler Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:33:42 +0000 http://www.dailywritingtips.com/?p=3278#comment-188940 What bothers me is the 2-syllable pronunciation of the word as "mid-evil", rather than "med-i-eval". What bothers me is the 2-syllable pronunciation of the word as “mid-evil”, rather than “med-i-eval”.

]]> By: Peter http://www.dailywritingtips.com/forget-about-the-%e2%80%9cdark-ages%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-188916 Peter Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:56:37 +0000 http://www.dailywritingtips.com/?p=3278#comment-188916 <i>The last Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 476.</i> Of course, Constantine IX of Constantinople would tell you <i>he</i> was the last Roman emperor, in 1453 (actually, there were putative Byzantine emperors even after Constantinople fell to the Turks; and the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire would claim the title until after 1800...with rather less validity) <i>Writers may wish to take another look at the terms Middle Ages and medieval. They don’t deserve to be used haphazardly as synonyms for ignorance and brutality. </i> I take "get mediæval on your ass" as a reference to the rather imaginatively sickening methods of torture commonly used in Europe at the time...which seems to me not at all unfair. The last Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 476.

Of course, Constantine IX of Constantinople would tell you he was the last Roman emperor, in 1453 (actually, there were putative Byzantine emperors even after Constantinople fell to the Turks; and the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire would claim the title until after 1800…with rather less validity)

Writers may wish to take another look at the terms Middle Ages and medieval. They don’t deserve to be used haphazardly as synonyms for ignorance and brutality.

I take “get mediæval on your ass” as a reference to the rather imaginatively sickening methods of torture commonly used in Europe at the time…which seems to me not at all unfair.

]]> By: Bill Graney http://www.dailywritingtips.com/forget-about-the-%e2%80%9cdark-ages%e2%80%9d/comment-page-1/#comment-188270 Bill Graney Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:56:49 +0000 http://www.dailywritingtips.com/?p=3278#comment-188270 Thank you for this interesting readable article. It is much needed in a time when most people seem to think civilization started in about 1960. Thank you for this interesting readable article. It is much needed in a time when most people seem to think civilization started in about 1960.

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