[Wikipedia-l] Re: Valentine's day!

[Ray Saintonge]

Tony Sidaway wrote:

>Arwel Parry said:
>  
>
>>In message <849f98ed05020914363e274be7 at mail.gmail.com>, Mark Williamson
>> <node.ue-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> writes
>>    
>>
>>>Not to spoil your fun, but unlike Christmas there is a much more
>>>international greeting for the same holiday (Valentine's Day) that is
>>>much less likely to alienate or offend others.
>>>
>>>There is no way to say "Happy valentine's day" in O'odham
>>>(Pima/Papago) or Piipaash (Maricopa) or Xalychidoma (Halichidhoma)
>>>without sounding extremely strange and perhaps overly religious - it is
>>>definitely non-traditional and not all speakers of these languages
>>>(well, at least O'odham) know what it is.
>>>      
>>>
>>Indeed. It's a cultural thing -- even in Europe, I'm not sure how we'd
>>say it in Welsh as our equivalent is St Dwynwen's Day (25th January).
>>We  had plenty of our own saints and had no need to import Roman ones!
>>    
>>
>Hmmm, nice idea smashes into bedrock of cultural diversity.  I suggest
>that unless there is substantial willingness to set up a Wikipedia
>tradition of celebrating Diwali, Eid, Guru Nanak, Beltain, Chinese New
>Year, and whatever, in multiple languages, it's probably best to steer
>clear of this kind of thing altogether.
>
Cultural attitudes about how greetings are expressed can also be varied, 
and not translate well.  Even when it's done with the best of intentions 
the cultural (rather than just linguistic) translations can seem a like 
some kind of contrived pastiche.  Thus a Christmas tree becomes a 
"Chanukah bush". 

It is a positive evolutionary step that we now say "Happy Valentine's 
Day" instead of "Happy St. Valentine's Day".  It shows that we are 
getting away from the superstitious underpinnings for the day. ;-)

Ec