Meryl, Sanskrit and Epic Fail

Meryl Dorey recently had this to say on twitter:

Skeptics - when I said that measles in Sanskrit is gift from a goddess - I meant the SANSKRIT word for measles - work it out for yourselves!

Yeah, obviously it was us misunderstanding your statement, not you being wrong.

For the record, here's Meryl's original statement, which she's repeated several times:

Did you know: Measles in Sanskrit translates as "Gift from a Goddess" because huge developmental and growth spurts often followed infection.

Protip, Meryl. The only places I can find that "fact" is antivax websites. You're just repeating, verbatim, the usual way.

Here's what Weez had to say:

".@nocompulsoryvac 'Measles' Sanskrit for 'Visit from goddess'? False: The Sanskrit word for measles is मसूरिका, transliterates to 'masuurikaa' http://is.gd/bmSbQ.
The Sanskrit word for goddess is देवि (devi)."

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/qe1th

And here's what I've got to say, via WC Rucker:

'This is one of the oldest ailments with which man has been afflicted. Infact the word "measles" traces its genealogy back through the German"masern" to the Sanskrit "masura," a word meaning "spots.'

http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/1/9/9/6/19965/19965.htm

Dave The Happy Singer spent some time googling up the attribution of this, and here's what he had to say:

The only people on ENTIRE FUCKING INTERNET who think this are Meryl Dorey and...

...Viera Scheibner.

No wonder she's terrified of having an evidence-based debate with Tom: she doesn't know the first thing about fact-checking

There's a sanskrit translator at http://spokensanskrit.de/ - try it out for yourself.

Now, Meryl, you may STFU, you ignoramus.

posted @ Saturday, April 17, 2010 1:57 PM

 
 
 

Comments on this entry:

# re: Meryl, Sanskrit and Epic Fail

Left by Sean the Blogonaut at 4/17/2010 7:02 PM
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Maybe she meant swahili?

# re: Meryl, Sanskrit and Epic Fail

Left by Jason at 4/17/2010 9:09 PM
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I just found this:

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDC932/

"And, of course, there were the clusters of sister Goddesses, the Matrikas, who had to be propitiated during all the festivities that marked a baby's birth. They were depicted as sixteen red dots on a hand-dyed yellow fabric and had to be felicitated with rice, milk, yogurt and roasted turmeric powder. A small bow and arrow were hung outside the door that led into the birth-room where a new mother and her male baby were quarantined for forty-two days. These objects were supposed to deter both the evil star Rahu and those sixteen fiery Matrikas from entering the baby's room and wreaking havoc in the form of measles, fevers, chicken-pox or other baby ailments"

So not exactly a gift, as I understand it. I suppose "gods and goddesses" don't actually have to bring *nice* stuff. Basically, these "godesses" are horrible bitches that need to be bribed to not kill your baby, if I understand it right. In western terms, they'd probably be "demons".

Meryl's thesis is well busted.
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