About "Miriam" (Completely offtopic)

Not about books or anthropology, just about my name.
I long knew its quite complex and various meanings in different cultures, which I'll not detail here now for lack of space and patience and point; but I was surprised to see The Urban Dictionary's explanations of what "a miriam" is.

So, here goes my least scholarly post on this blog (well, maybe if you consider The Urban Dictionary as part of a larger frame of clashing discourses in a funny way exposed by a blurry elite of a postmodern system of meanings... it could pass as appropriate, were there not still the un-randomness of picking precisely the entry on "miriam" out of it all):

Next paragraphs will completely quote The Urban Dictionary mentioned above.

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1. Miriam.

The kind of beauty a guy only sees once. You know? Once.

 

''Omg...omg...that's, that's...that's perfection.''
''That's a Miriam.''

 

2. Miriam.

 

That girl in your class. You know the one. She's a total enigma.
She's the reason you can't remember what you learnt in that lesson, or what the homework was -in short, she's the reason your failing school. She's the palest girl you've ever seen, with raven black hair and the kinda eyes that make you want to die. It almost hurts to look at her. You've never spoken to her, either because you're intimidated by her enigmatic vibe, or you just know you're never gonna be good enough for such a fucking angel.

HOWEVER if you should ever get to know a Miriam, you realise she's actually fucking COOL. She's the girl all the bad guys want, because you know, while she sits there looking all ethereal and quiet ...she's a wild one. Her quick sarcasm and seemingly emotional detachment add to her ''anti-girl'' charm and it breaks your heart to know she'll never love you as much as you love her. She's funny and the moment you realise she's into fat, dirty, loser boys ...you want to die.

 

"We have double English today, FML!"
"Shut the fuck up, Miriam's in our class; man I love that girl"
"No way man, she's such a fucking tease, you'll never get her"
"I know. Fuck my life man. Just shoot me now."

''The new girl's kinda hot!"
"Oh, I heard she's into like old-school horror, metal and is a real wild child. She's fucking cool man. But apparently she likes that fat dude in the year above..."
"No way man. Awh, she's such a Miriam"

 

3. Miriam.

An ancient goddess of beauty, who is also amazingly strong and sexy. All the elements are hers. A girl named Miriam will take on the characteristics of strength, intelligence, and beauty, plus other unique characteristics.

 

Woahh, that new girl is so hot....

She reminds me of Miriam.

 

4. Miriam.

 

The Greek word for a hot and sexy person . Used very commonly for a God or Goddess during the time of the renaissance.

 

Joe : " she is such a miriam "
John : " Her friend is a miriam too "

 

5. Miriam.

 

A cool, preety, short girl. She's funny and very outgoing. Always hyper and fun to be with. She keeps converstions going. She always seems to go for the wrong type of guys, and tends to want to give up at the end. Hispanice chik, skinny, slim with preety curly hair . She makes friends with evryone and she loves everyone. She's trutsworthy and you can come to her with anything, especially boys. You'll always love her and get long with her . she's like no other person in the world .

 

"Damn look at that Miriam! Gotta love her!"

 

6. Miriam.

 

Miriam is an ancient welsh goddess of outstanding beauty and strength. To be a miriam is to be a perfect being except for her Achilles heel which is a broken knee. It gives out on her when she needs it the most.

 

"Suzy wins at everything, at least until the ultimate contest when her knee gives out and she flops badly.
She is such a miriam."

 

7. Miriam.

 

That girl who is just so fucking perfect in every way.

Every guy falls in love with her from the minute they see her, with her long straight chocolate brown hair and gorgeous bright blue eyes.

This girl is UNFORGETTABLE. She's the reason you're failing school - the reason you can't focus in anything you do.
You know you'll never be with a Miriam. She's just too fucking perfect for you.

No, she's not a slut - but she's not prude either. She's just waiting for the right guy. Her standards are high so you know she'd never go for you - and it hurts.

Once you get to know Miriam, you see she's not only gorgeous - she's insanely smart, creative, and funny. She has the best personality ever. Pure amazingness.

This girl is the shit.

 

"John: Ugh, we have Math next.
James: Wtf man, miriams in our class.
John: Oh right! Fuck yesss, Math!
James: Bro you'd never get a Miriam
John: If I can't get Miriam, I don't want anyone. Just shoot me now!"

"Susan: I'm so fat! Why can't i look like Miriam??
Hanna: I know, right? Gosh, she's just so perfect."

 

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Done with the quoting. I must admit this is a nice change from all the times I only encountered my name in books as pertaining to a nun/midwife/old care-giver etc. So I guess a little self-flattery won when deciding whether to post about this or not.

 

But beyond that, The Urban Dictionary got me thinking, through the examples that were given, of all the teenage meaning-prescribing and the high-school drama, exactly as I remember it. It's a wonder how much we need a higher meaning so badly that we ritualize everything. In this sense, the naivety of people declaring themselves atheists is astonishing. Of course, this isn't any news as any functionalist-side of the sociology of religions scholar can point out. But such scholars seldom take this observation further, into the playground of narratives manifested elsewhere... like in valuing the cup of tea we drink over coffee for ideological reasons (as I admit I tend to do) or in the genre of music we listen to or in playing a game or participating in a festival. 

We tend to compensate for a certain lack of narratives so much by producing other kinds of narratives that it just gets more and more interesting. And this is never as clearly visible as it is with teenagers (who inevitably show more of themselves than regular grown-ups do and who generally plunge in deeper and faster). I actually remember I used to call this "having a sense of the sacred" (a avea simtul sacrului) at the time I was my teens, usually deciding whether to like people or not based on that factor... Oh, what mischievously tender, cruel, bright and glorious times!... :)