[Buddha-l] What's wrong with a little Dharma?

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Thu, 2005-09-01 at 18:43 +0100, Stephen Hodge wrote:

> As far as I can see, all abbreviations of countries / nationalities are 
> dismissive or derogatory, with the probable exception of Aussie, and so 
> should be avoided despite the fact that some unthinking people even here use 
> it.

The small-minded narrow-visioned hard-hearted man who currently lives in
the White House loves to shorten people's names. It's apparently a way
of demonstrating power by showing that you get to call people what you'd
like but don't have quite enough time to say their whole name. 

A good friend of mine, whose name I will not mention (even in a
shortened form) drives me crazy by referring to the Buddha as Sid. I
suppose it might make puerile students giggle the first time they hear
it, but it really grates on my nerves to hear Sid mentioned fifteen
times in a one-hour lecture. (This same friend refers to Nagaarjuna as
Nag and the Vajracchedika Sutra as "The Vaj".) 

You agree with what I'm saying, don't you, Steve?

Dick