The Order of Goth Date Friday, April 19, 2024 - 02:53 PM PST Topic Theories Goth Goth is (among other things) an ordinal term. Ordinal terms Ordinal terms are words like 'first', 'second', 'third', 'fourth', 'last', and so on. Notice that often the number with which they are associated is corrupted or missing in favour of a latin root (in the instance of 'second', etc) or a corrupted version of the original Old English term (in the instance of 'first' and 'third', etc). After three they tend to be just the number with an appended -nd -th -st since most uses of ordinal terms are concerned with only the first three positions. Races, pageants, and other competitions where a group is graded and given relative ranking are the primary uses of ordinal terms. Some competitions even have extra terms for these places such as 'winner'/'runner up'/'second runner up' or 'win'/'show'/'place', since the difference in reward for these places is great. Distilled Essentially, ordinal terms are applied to a person or thing by a person or group who is considered to be in authority. They are not applied by the person or thing itself, rather the person or thing is submitting itself to be graded. After all, what individual would say that they are second or third at something if they could control the ordering criteria? Extrapolation Following the pattern put forth previously, i suggest that 'Goth' is a term not unlike 'ninth', a contraction of two other words (such as 'nine' + 'th') and an ordinal term. In the case of Goth, the terms are 'God' and 'th'. Conclusion Goth is thus an interesting term, because it is at the same time an ordinal term and the antithesis of all ordinal terms (a quantum property!). It follows the pattern of ordinal terms but is not derived from a number or relative position. It is a term which is applied by an entity to itself when it refuses to be evaluated according to the rules of another entity (an entity could be anything from a high school science teacher to society as a whole). It is the 'Go(d)th' place because it exists in the same time and place as an entity of which it can never be an integral part. People can commune with their Godhead only indirectly, through meditation or other means, since direct communion would mean destruction of one or more involved parties. Those in the 'Goth' place can commune only indirectly with the society of those who would be ordered, through an art form or by attempting to enlighten the listed masses, to elevate them to a self-ruling, self-empowered, self-God state... ...the Goth state. This article comes from Shmeng http://www.shmeng.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.shmeng.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=123