New...

[J*8]

<span class="ev_code_PURPLE">Hi people...
I've spent a few days exploring and now I think I'm suppose to say hello.

I saw a thread about the English Translation of Dai stihó.
While reading the series the phrase has been used in place of Hi, Hello, Goodbye, and the closest I've seen to a direct translation was "Go Well"

The only problem with Go Wellis that you would never say "Go Well" in place of "Hello"

My theory is that Dai stihó must mean Be Well

And isn't that what being a wizard is all about?
The Oath tells wizards to Be Well and encourage all things, living and unliving, to also Be Well.

So it makes sense...to me...well at least you all know I'm as insane as everybody else here

Oh yah, Deep Wizardry is my favorite.
Of course, I've only read the first six books.
I have the seventh but I'm saving it for the ten-hour-car-trip on Saturday...

Dai,
*hope this works*
</span>

[What\'s up, doc?]

Hi J*8, nice to see someone thinking about the Transcendent Pig like me..

Anyway, I agree that it may mean Be Well, but don't you actually feel that it's strange to wish someone well just when you see him/her? Okay, maybe I'm too paranoid.. but I feel that it sounds a mere little sarcastic. Sorry if I'm too straight-forward. Maybe it's only the word "well". So it may mean to be well, or go well, or even glad you're well, depending on the situation.

Though deep wizardry isn't my favourite, it's still on par with the rest of my favourite books....

[Mel]

Hey, J*8, I'm Mel, as you can tell. Just thought I'd say hi. Or Be Well actually. *grins toothily*

Well, I think you'll like WH, it was my favourite until W@W. They're all good.

Oh, and enjoy the forums! :P

[J*8]

<span class="ev_code_PURPLE">So I've looked at most of what's here, that I have any interest in, and it looks like The Topic of Great Randomness is something special. So what I want to know is, is it worth reading, or attempting to read (since apparently successfully completeing a reading is rare)?</span>

[ALittleUnbroken]

"Be Well" would indeed make sense. Many languages when litterly translated their greeting means something like that.

Korean for example: "Ahnyoung ha sae yo!" litterly translates to something along the lines of "Please be peacefull." although it is treated more like "Hello, how are you?"

Saying "be well" to a stranger doesn't seem all that strange. . . when we leave a store does the clerk not usually say "Have a nice day!"?

[Birdhead]

Random linguistic fact, justified by the fact that it's te wiki o te reo Maori, Maori Language Week, here in Aotearoa; in te reo one of the most common greetings is kia ora, which does, in fact, mean be well.

as it applies to dai stiho; my first thought was actually to agree with Doc and say that it's a problem of contextualising the verb, or really a translation problem; it's possible that stiho (which I'm fairly confident is the verb bit) means go and be interchangeably, or more likely, both at once. This is the Speech, after all; and thinking about Kit's problem translating Ponch's verb "want" into "wish/will" it seems quite likely there might be something similar.

My second thought was to go scramble through The Door Into Shadow for that passage in Dracon which includes "stiheh", because there might be a clue there and besides I've been meaning to do that for ages. However, I've done a quick flick through and can't see the bit I'm thinking of (though I did see some of my favourite passages, which of course I stopped to re-read so this post has now been half an hour in the making...) so that'll have to wait til another day. :P

[Slash]

Hi nebbes I just wanna warn ya that the girl named Missy Is pure EVIL!

[Mel]

J*8:
So I've looked at most of what's here, that I have any interest in, and it looks like The Topic of Great Randomness is something special. So what I want to know is, is it worth reading, or attempting to read (since apparently successfully completeing a reading is rare)?

The ToGR is something special. It is a place to vent all your randomness of the day so your friends/parents/people don't think you're as crazy as you really are XD
You just have to obey the normal rules: Good punctuation, no one-liners with no substance.

As for is it worth reading? I would say no, past the most recent page or two to catch the latest topic that everyone's talking about. There is only one person I know of who has read the whole ToGR was it Tui? I dunno, I can't really remember very well (my brain partially shuts down during the summer).

Stop in, it's the best place to get to know everyone (besides Chat).

[the_peridexis]

good punctuation, mel? i find that hilarious, because i don't really give, as long as what you're posting is worthwhile...or kinda. but i suppose you mean don't use too many exclamation marks. that makes sense...spamming can be annoying sometimes.

heeeey, i'm not QUITE a newbie (well, eight months) but i still haven't made a sig cuz i haven't figured out how. XD i'm the cleverest thing on the forums, aren't i?

-peri (i HATE this keyboard, it keeps sticking!!!)

P.S. just to offer a little something to this subject: in arabic, "fursatoon tayiba" means "nice to meet you." but it translates exactly to "good chance." my point being, maybe "dai stiho" translates exactly into "be well", but means something along the lines of "hello", a greeting, if you will.

some other more intelligent person will find a way to prove me wrong though...i never win. :P

[Mel]

Peri,

I'm afraid that my mind is a little muddled. I basically meant sentences instead of like little fragments of nothingness, Like,
She knack heeereeeeee....;

Which makes absolutely no sense, and I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Go ahead! Use Exlamations! I use lottts of exclamations! Woot!

AS for your sig, dig a little into your profile. You'll find it.