quote:

ORIGINAL: mstrjx

Why do birds suddenly appear?

(Bad.  Yes, I know.  Bad)

quote:

ORIGINAL: FemaleSupremacy
Why is a Female Dominant called a "Mistress", when the orgin of that term means "A woman who has a continuing sexual relationship with a usually married man who is not her husband"? Clearly "Dominatrix" is more appropriate as the root word "Domina" is derived from Latin meaning the Female head of a household and "boss".  For that matter the suffix -trix is redundant as it means the feminine version of something male, and Domina is not male to begin with- it is Female. The Latin version is "Dominus". The Europeans it seem know this as there the term "Domina" used exclusively, while no one is ever referred to as a Dominatrix or Mistress.

quote:

ORIGINAL: FemaleSupremacy

Hello all, This may seem like semantics and perhaps it is but I have always been fascinated by linguistics (the study of words) and etymology (the study of the root of words) and how as a society we use and incorporate them into our common useage and why some words gain popular useage, while others do not.

(I always thought "etymology" was somehow connected to that whole "Paper, or Plastic" question).

For example, why is it ok to say on TV "He is such a dick" but NOT ok to say "I saw his little dick"?

It's not ok to say either (and frankly, I'm offended)....MODS!!!!!! (she said the "D" word!!!!!)

Why is someone who is into Female Supremacy called a "Femdom" when this breaks down from conjoining the 2 words "Female" and "Dom" which is the male version of a Dominant. Should it not be instead "Femdomme"?

It often is, and I'm going to use both spellings in my presentation to 27 architects tomorrow morning just to prove it to you.

Why is a Female Dominant called a "Mistress", when the orgin of that term means "A woman who has a continuing sexual relationship with a usually married man who is not her husband"? (I never read that...does that mean because I'm single, I can't have a Mistress?  And who the hell are you to tell me I can't have a Mistress?  I've had a Mistress for the last 17 years....I'm finally reaching my peak earning years and NOW I can't have a fucking Mistress????  You'll be hearing from my attorneys).

Clearly "Dominatrix" is more appropriate as the root word "Domina" is derived from Latin meaning the Female head of a household and "boss".  For that matter the suffix -trix is redundant as it means the feminine version of something male, and Domina is not male to begin with- it is Female. The Latin version is "Dominus". The Europeans it seem know this as there the term "Domina" used exclusively, while no one is ever referred to as a Dominatrix or Mistress.

(My head hurts).

My main reason for asking all these rhetorical questions is to lay the groundwork for my REAL question which is- why do people involved in the scene in America refer to playspaces as "Dungeons", while in Europe (especially Germany) they are ALWAYS referred to as "Dominastudios" (occasionally BDSM Studios)?

It's really quite simple;  Germans speak German...they don't know English as well as us Americans...it's perfectly understandle they might use words that didn't conform to our general tendencies.  Please, cocoa, milk is chocolate I have.

*Side note usually it is pronounced "Dominastudios" rather than "Domina Studios", as the Germans have a tendency to combine 2 words together.* (See above).

A simple search in Google for Domina Studio reveals many more results than for BDSM Dungeon or Dominatrix Dungeon etc. worldwide by far so why in the U.S. do we persist in using Dungeon? 

I understand that the use of "Dungeon" invokes a dark and forboding image which is kind of sexy and kinky and some may like that but this is exactly my point. On a recent trip to Germany I was struck by how revered in GENERAL SOCIETY Dominas and Dominastudios were there. In Germany a Domina is considered to be a professional as we in America would term a "Professional" here e.g. a Doctor, Lawyer etc (well maybe Lawyer is a bad example as not too many people respect them, but hopefully you get my point. :-) j/k any Attorneys here.

(I'm still waiting for this stuff to be covered by my HMO).

But anyway, my point is that do we not do ourselves a disservice by using the term "Dungeon" instead of Dominastudio (I agree, I'm going to start referring to my refridgerator as a "food glorifying unit") which in Europe "Studio" is used in conjunction with professional services like Tatoostudio, Hairstudio etc. as it is here in the USA? In Europe it is considered perfectly legitimate to assign the "Professional" association of "Studio" to Dominas and BDSM, while here in the USA in general society it would be almost blasphemous as people here relegate BDSM to the fringes. Do we not make it easier for them to accomplish this by using a term like Dungeon, rather than Studio?

(Something tells me it's the whips and blood and all that damn screaming the neighbors have a problem with).

While the last thing I am is a conformist and ultimately do not care what others think of me... would it not be better for the furtherance of acceptance in the public square and legitimizing Femdom/BDSM to mainstream society to associate Professional Domination with  "Studio" which evokes a respected therapudic "Service", rather than a "Dungeon" which evokes something misunderstood and dysfunctional?

("Theraputic")
 
(That ain't bad...1 misspelled...in 601 words).

quote:

ORIGINAL: Griswold

quote:

ORIGINAL: FemaleSupremacy

Hello all, This may seem like semantics and perhaps it is but I have always been fascinated by linguistics (the study of words) and etymology (the study of the root of words) and how as a society we use and incorporate them into our common useage and why some words gain popular useage, while others do not.

(I always thought "etymology" was somehow connected to that whole "Paper, or Plastic" question).

For example, why is it ok to say on TV "He is such a dick" but NOT ok to say "I saw his little dick"?

It's not ok to say either (and frankly, I'm offended)....MODS!!!!!! (she said the "D" word!!!!!)

Why is someone who is into Female Supremacy called a "Femdom" when this breaks down from conjoining the 2 words "Female" and "Dom" which is the male version of a Dominant. Should it not be instead "Femdomme"?

It often is, and I'm going to use both spellings in my presentation to 27 architects tomorrow morning just to prove it to you.

Why is a Female Dominant called a "Mistress", when the orgin of that term means "A woman who has a continuing sexual relationship with a usually married man who is not her husband"? (I never read that...does that mean because I'm single, I can't have a Mistress?  And who the hell are you to tell me I can't have a Mistress?  I've had a Mistress for the last 17 years....I'm finally reaching my peak earning years and NOW I can't have a fucking Mistress????  You'll be hearing from my attorneys).

Clearly "Dominatrix" is more appropriate as the root word "Domina" is derived from Latin meaning the Female head of a household and "boss".  For that matter the suffix -trix is redundant as it means the feminine version of something male, and Domina is not male to begin with- it is Female. The Latin version is "Dominus". The Europeans it seem know this as there the term "Domina" used exclusively, while no one is ever referred to as a Dominatrix or Mistress.

(My head hurts).

My main reason for asking all these rhetorical questions is to lay the groundwork for my REAL question which is- why do people involved in the scene in America refer to playspaces as "Dungeons", while in Europe (especially Germany) they are ALWAYS referred to as "Dominastudios" (occasionally BDSM Studios)?

It's really quite simple;  Germans speak German...they don't know English as well as us Americans...it's perfectly understandle they might use words that didn't conform to our general tendencies.  Please, cocoa, milk is chocolate I have.

*Side note usually it is pronounced "Dominastudios" rather than "Domina Studios", as the Germans have a tendency to combine 2 words together.* (See above).

A simple search in Google for Domina Studio reveals many more results than for BDSM Dungeon or Dominatrix Dungeon etc. worldwide by far so why in the U.S. do we persist in using Dungeon? 

I understand that the use of "Dungeon" invokes a dark and forboding image which is kind of sexy and kinky and some may like that but this is exactly my point. On a recent trip to Germany I was struck by how revered in GENERAL SOCIETY Dominas and Dominastudios were there. In Germany a Domina is considered to be a professional as we in America would term a "Professional" here e.g. a Doctor, Lawyer etc (well maybe Lawyer is a bad example as not too many people respect them, but hopefully you get my point. :-) j/k any Attorneys here.

(I'm still waiting for this stuff to be covered by my HMO).

But anyway, my point is that do we not do ourselves a disservice by using the term "Dungeon" instead of Dominastudio (I agree, I'm going to start referring to my refridgerator as a "food glorifying unit") which in Europe "Studio" is used in conjunction with professional services like Tatoostudio, Hairstudio etc. as it is here in the USA? In Europe it is considered perfectly legitimate to assign the "Professional" association of "Studio" to Dominas and BDSM, while here in the USA in general society it would be almost blasphemous as people here relegate BDSM to the fringes. Do we not make it easier for them to accomplish this by using a term like Dungeon, rather than Studio?

(Something tells me it's the whips and blood and all that damn screaming the neighbors have a problem with).

While the last thing I am is a conformist and ultimately do not care what others think of me... would it not be better for the furtherance of acceptance in the public square and legitimizing Femdom/BDSM to mainstream society to associate Professional Domination with  "Studio" which evokes a respected therapudic "Service", rather than a "Dungeon" which evokes something misunderstood and dysfunctional?

("Theraputic")
 
(That ain't bad...1 misspelled...in 601 words).

quote:

ORIGINAL: FemaleSupremacy
Why is someone who is into Female Supremacy called a "Femdom" when this breaks down from conjoining the 2 words "Female" and "Dom" which is the male version of a Dominant. Should it not be instead "Femdomme"?

quote:

Why is a Female Dominant called a "Mistress", when the orgin of that term means "A woman who has a continuing sexual relationship with a usually married man who is not her husband"?

quote:

Clearly "Dominatrix" is more appropriate as the root word "Domina" is derived from Latin meaning the Female head of a household and "boss".  For that matter the suffix -trix is redundant as it means the feminine version of something male, and Domina is not male to begin with- it is Female. The Latin version is "Dominus". The Europeans it seem know this as there the term "Domina" used exclusively, while no one is ever referred to as a Dominatrix or Mistress.

quote:

My main reason for asking all these rhetorical questions is to lay the groundwork for my REAL question which is- why do people involved in the scene in America refer to playspaces as "Dungeons", while in Europe (especially Germany) they are ALWAYS referred to as "Dominastudios" (occasionally BDSM Studios)?

quote:

In Europe it is considered perfectly legitimate to assign the "Professional" association of "Studio" to Dominas and BDSM, while here in the USA in general society it would be almost blasphemous as people here relegate BDSM to the fringes. Do we not make it easier for them to accomplish this by using a term like Dungeon, rather than Studio?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Faramir

quote:

ORIGINAL: FemaleSupremacy
Why is a Female Dominant called a "Mistress", when the orgin of that term means "A woman who has a continuing sexual relationship with a usually married man who is not her husband"? Clearly "Dominatrix" is more appropriate as the root word "Domina" is derived from Latin meaning the Female head of a household and "boss".  For that matter the suffix -trix is redundant as it means the feminine version of something male, and Domina is not male to begin with- it is Female. The Latin version is "Dominus". The Europeans it seem know this as there the term "Domina" used exclusively, while no one is ever referred to as a Dominatrix or Mistress.

Wow--for someone who is "fascinated by...etymology (the study of the root of words), " you're intensely ignorant of etymolgy (the study of word roots).

While there is one denotation of "Mistress" as a married man's paramour, the etmology of the word is through Old French back to Latin.  Just as Master and Mistress trace their roots from Maitre/Maitress to Latin as Magister, so to Dominus and Domina are the Latin masculine and feminine variants of lord and lady.  I mean, etymologically, both sets of words are utterly equivalent.  Just as Master and Mistress are feminine and masculine variants of Magister (a school master), so are Domina and Dominus as lady and lord.

Tell you what sweetcheeks--if Female Supremacy rests in hands like yours--it ain't happen'.

quote:

while the word Mistress originally meant "Governess" and head of the house and is akin to "Domina", it subsequently came to mean "kept Woman" and more people outside of the BDSM world associate it with that meaning generally. That was the whole thrust of what I was saying as to why one definition gains more predominance than the other since Mistress originally meant something quite different.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Griswold

It's not ok to say either (and frankly, I'm offended)....MODS!!!!!! (she said the "D" word!!!!!)
 

quote:

ORIGINAL: Griswold

It's really quite simple;  Germans speak German...they don't know English as well as us Americans...it's perfectly understandle they might use words that didn't conform to our general tendencies.  Please, cocoa, milk is chocolate I have.
 

quote:

ORIGINAL: Griswold

("Theraputic")
 
(That ain't bad...1 misspelled...in 601 words).

quote:

ORIGINAL: pauliestl

I don't like either dungeon or dominastudio, I call mine the playroom.  I can use playroom in mixed (vanilla and scene) company and no one raises an eyebrow but my scene friends know EXACTLY what room I am talking about.  Also I think the two words you use conjure up entirely different mental images.  When I think of a dungeon I think of a dark dank room with exposed rock walls and chains and shakles built into the wall.  When I think of studio I think of this high ceiling airy brightly lit room with exposed ceiling beams and exposed hvac.  Both of which would work for a scene but two completely different rooms.

quote:

ORIGINAL: pauliestl

Also it may have to do with the fact that in Europe they actually have dungeons and their relatives might have spent some time in one of them so they find it harder to romanticize a room where their great great great uncle was eviscerated for heresy.