Slut
Slut is a term for a woman or girl who is considered to have loose sexual morals or who is sexually promiscuous. It is generally used as an insult, sexual slur or offensive term of disparagement (slut shaming). It originally meant "a dirty, slovenly woman", and is only rarely used to refer to men, generally requiring clarification by use of the terms male slut or man whore.
The first recorded use of the word was in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. He says, "Why is thy lord so sluttish, I thee pray, And is of power better clothes to bey." He is referring to the man's untidy appearance. The word has also been used to refer to dust bunnies, which were called "slut bunnies". There have been attempts to reclaim the word for girls and women, and some individuals embrace the title as a source of pride.
Etymology, common usages and synonyms
The common denotative meanings are a sexually promiscuous woman, or "an immoral or dissolute woman; prostitute." These definitions identify a slut as a person of low character—a person who lacks the ability or chooses not to exercise a power of discernment to order their affairs, similar to terms used for men, such as a cad, rake, womanizer, stud, player, male slut or man whore. The adjective slutty carries a similar connotation, but can be applied both to people and to clothing and accessories, such as Halloween costumes. The lack of a comparably popular term for men highlights the double standard in societal expectations between males and females.
Amen
The word amen (/ˌɑːˈmɛn/ or /ˌeɪˈmɛn/; Hebrew: אָמֵן, Modern amen, Tiberian ʾāmēn; Greek: ἀμήν; Arabic: آمين, ʾāmīn ; "So be it; truly") is a declaration of affirmation found in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. It has been generally adopted in Christian worship as a concluding word for prayers and hymns. Common English translations of the word amen include "verily" and "truly". It can also be used colloquially to express strong agreement, as in, for instance, amen to that.
Pronunciation
In English, the word amen has two primary pronunciations, ah-men (/ɑːˈmɛn/) or ay-men (/eɪˈmɛn/), with minor additional variation in emphasis (the two syllables may be equally stressed instead of placing primary stress on the second). The Oxford English Dictionary gives "ɑː'mɛn, eɪ'mεn".
In anglophone North America the ah-men pronunciation is used in performances of classical music, in churches with more formalized rituals and liturgy and in liberal to mainline Protestant denominations, as well as almost every Jewish congregation, in line with modern Hebrew pronunciation. The ay-men pronunciation, a product of the Great Vowel Shift dating to the 15th century, is associated with Irish Protestantism and conservative Evangelical denominations generally, and is the pronunciation typically used in gospel music.
Amen!
Amen! is the second album by singer and actress Della Reese. The album was her second record for Jubilee Records, and her first of many records dedicated solely to sacred and spiritual material. The album features background vocals by the Meditation Singers, which she had been a part of in the early ’50s. The album also features vocals by the then unknown singer Laura Lee, who had incidentally replaced Reese in the group, when she left in 1953.
The album was released on Compact Disc, alongside her 1959 album What Do You Know About Love?, for the first time in 2008, by Collector’s Choice.
Track listing
Amen.
Amen. is a 2002 German, Romanian and French film directed by Costa-Gavras.
Plot
The film Amen. examines the links between the Vatican and Nazi Germany. The central character is Kurt Gerstein (Ulrich Tukur), a Waffen-SS officer employed in the SS Hygiene Institute, designing programs for the purification of water and the destruction of vermin. He is shocked to learn that the process he has developed to eradicate typhus, by using a hydrogen cyanide mixture called Zyklon B, is now being used for killing Jews in extermination camps. Gerstein attempts to notify Pope Pius XII (Marcel Iureş) about the gassings, but is appalled by the lack of response he gets from the Catholic hierarchy. The only person moved is Riccardo Fontana (Mathieu Kassovitz), a young Jesuit priest. Fontana and Gerstein attempt to raise awareness about what is happening to the Jews in Europe but even after Fontana appealing to the pope himself, the Vatican makes only a timid and vague condemnation of Hitler and Nazi Germany.
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