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What does old world mean? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter lvn600
- Start date
Edward woodwood
Member
Europe Asia and Africa
North and South America are the New World
Australia and Antartica etc are neither!
Tim
North and South America are the New World
Australia and Antartica etc are neither!
Tim
Tranquility Base
Registered User
New World, because (allegedly!) no-one knew about it until 1492. Apart from the 100,000,000 people who lived there. And the Norse. And the Chinese. And possibly the Ancient Egyptians!
cuckooroller
Registered User
Yes, it's such a "crocky" distinction. Whenever I hear it, it conjures up the vision of my ancestors kind of stumbling around while groping their surroundings in the middle of the Mississippi Delta. After all, they must have been like Saul on the road to Tarsus, all of them with scales over their eyes, in limbo, until the genocidal Columbus mistakenly stumbled over Hispaniola, at which point, of course, my ancestors in their wonderment had the scales fall off of their eyes and fell to their knees while thankfully declaiming "We exist, We exist!"
Katy Penland
Well-known member
:clap: I know you're being serious, Steve, but that's about the best summary I've ever read of the "discovery" of the "New World." :clap:cuckooroller said:
KnockerNorton
Well-known member
It's called 'New' becuase it was 'new' to Europeans at the time. Simple as that.
Tranquility Base
Registered User
Offord said:
'New' to all the Europeans apart from St. Brendan, Basque fishermen, the Portuguese and Norse expeditions to North America, starting with Bjarni Herjolfsson in 986
Tranquility Base
Registered User
(Bjarni Herjolfsson was, of course, a founder member of *bba and love-child of Bj*rk)
RecoveringScot
Well-known member
It tends to be replaced by 'First World' nowadays (on the analogy of 'Third World') whereas Third World was just added to Old and New originally. I'm not sure if that's an advance, since the Third World used to mean just that, third in a series of cultural realms, but in comparison with First World - that sounds rather more competitive. And where's the 'Second World' - a phrase I've never heard used?
Tranquility Base
Registered User
Ah! I can help! The 'Second World' was the term used in the West for countries under the 'grip' of Soviet Communism.
RecoveringScot
Well-known member
Clouseau said:
Of course. Thanks very much. You won't credit it but I've lain awake at nights puzzling over that one for years...nearly.
Steve G
RAINBIRDER
........and the Scots. Henry Sinclair, Earl of Rosslyn reputedly sailed to Nova Scotia in 1398 with a small fleet supported by two Venetian brothers (Zeno) -as detailed in the Zeno Narrative. His grandson William Sinclair comissioned the building of Rosslyn Chapel which includes detailed stone carvings (circa 1446) of Maize which would otherwise have been unknown in Europe prior to the Columbus expedition of 1492.Clouseau said:
Tranquility Base
Registered User
Steve G said:
Mmmmmm! Rosslyn Chapel? Rennes le Chateau etc! LOL!
david kelly
Drive-by Birder
lvn600 said:
Old World Sparrows are the true Sparrows (Passeridae) after which new World Sparrows are named. New World Sparrows are related to Old World Buntings (Emberizidae) while New World Buntings appear to be mainly Cardinals (Cardinalidae).
David
Allen S. Moore
Well-known member
"New World"
We Celts reckon that St Brendan crossed the north Atlantic, too, before the Norse. There's also a theory that he returned to Europe via the Canary Islands.
(Yes, I should read the whole thread before replying, but please excuse me, as I'm a new boy!)
Allen
Clouseau said:
We Celts reckon that St Brendan crossed the north Atlantic, too, before the Norse. There's also a theory that he returned to Europe via the Canary Islands.
(Yes, I should read the whole thread before replying, but please excuse me, as I'm a new boy!)
Allen
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