> (on Usenet people will often ask for someone to cite
> their sources, beaning to back it up with where they
> get the information).
Of course Chris meant to say "meaning" and not "beaning". I think this
is a linguistic event, not a mechanical typographical error, that
deserves analysis. Chris was already producing/generating the phrase
"Back it up" while he was typing the intended word "Meaning."
But there is more to it than that. Hebrew words that begin with B are
sometimes cognate with words in other languages that begin with M. For
example, Hebrew BoGeR (to become an adult) and Latin Major (reach
majority), Hebrew BeiS 3oLaM (house of eternity) and Mausoleum.
And so it is that the Hebrew word BiNaH means "meaning, understanding,
wisdom". This word is found transliterated as "beans" in the English
idioms "to spill the beans" (to tell/reveal the meaning) and "he
doesn't know beans about ...". The word "bean" is also used as an
informal term for the human head. Someone may tell you to "use your
bean" meaning "to use your head, to think". In baseball, if the batter
is hit in the head by a pitched ball, he is said to have been "beaned".
ciao,
Israel "izzy" Cohen
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