# Wither the Raelians. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 6, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309 "2006-03-06T22:23:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/1 "2006-03-06T22:23:07Z")
Someone posted a witnessing thread for the Raelians religion over in GD. I only skimmed it, but it seemed like pretty standard witnessing fare. I was wondering why it was removed. Sure it was witnessing. Sure it was almost certainly a drive-by. But witnessing is tolerated in GD isn’t it? And the thread hadn’t been around for long enought to reasonably assume it was drive-by. Seems odd that we get Christain witnessing threads from time to time and they are permitted, but Raelian witnessing is deleted. Was it the content that was inappropriate, or something else? [Useless link to the thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=361742) ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/2 "2006-03-06T23:51:48Z")
The OP was a guest, so probably sock action. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/3 "2006-03-07T05:05:52Z")
Darn those socks, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/4 "2006-03-07T05:09:21Z")
If you, a member, would like to join the Raelians, then return to the board bringing a testimony of your higher consciousness, I would leave your post alone as witnessing. When some spam-bot trolls through leaving nothing but a teaser and a link to the Rael site where they are pushing books, seminars, and other money generating items, I am going to treat it as the spam it is. We do the same thing for a couple of recurring Christian spam-bots, as well. When we describe witnessing, we are discussing the personal expressions of real (not Rael) SDMB members in regard to their beliefs, not advertising. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/5 "2006-03-07T05:42:07Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > of real (not Rael) SDMB members You’re goin’ straight to Hael for that one 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/6 "2006-03-07T05:47:46Z")
Fair enough. As I said I hadn’t actually read the post, much less followed the links, so I didn’t relaise it was a spambot. Apparently neither did the several people who actually posted responses. Does this count as evidence of machine intelligence by the Turing test? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/7 "2006-03-07T06:06:24Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Apparently neither did the several people who actually posted responses. You didn’t see the responses. 😉 It didn’t occur to me that it was a spambot, but nobody took it seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/8 "2006-03-07T07:11:20Z")
Does anybody ever take witnessing seriously on these boards? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/9 "2006-03-07T12:13:21Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Does anybody ever take witnessing seriously on these boards? > **[Ask a muslim](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=149768)** > > As salaam u alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu Peace, Mercy, and Blessings of Allah be upon you Hey Dopers! I’m pretty new here, but here goes. I’ve noticed a wide range of knowledge regarding Islam in the various posts here. I think it’s time... ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/10 "2006-03-07T23:59:33Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > **Wither the Raelians** If you wither them, how will we find out where they went? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/11 "2006-03-08T01:11:35Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > If you wither them, how will we find out where they went? Thank you! Maybe it’s this place that’s turn me pedantic, but some things really get my goat. Hoping I didn’t make any mistakes… ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/12 "2006-03-08T01:55:57Z")
So, what’s the correct way? This way is the only one I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/13 "2006-03-08T02:39:30Z")
“Whither”. Means “where to”. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/14 "2006-03-08T08:27:00Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Thank you! Maybe it’s this place that’s turn me pedantic, but some things really get my goat. > > Hoping I didn’t make any mistakes… You did. My spelling was both deliberate and perfectly correct. The question itself is an adaptation from a famous peice of literature, so famous that I can’t even remember the source. But in the context ‘wither’ is the correct spelling. Wither is a somewhat archaic form of ‘whither’ which simpy reflects the age of the original. Of Whither itslef is now considered obsolete and archaic. OED > [@](#): > > Whither > > Illustration of Forms. … wither, whither > > a1700 EVELYN Diary 29 Jan. 1645, The towne Aversa, wither came 3 or 4 coaches. > > Signification. > Now, in all senses, only archaic or literary; replaced in ordinary use by where, or colloq. where…to: see WHERE 3, 1c. (Cf. WHENCE I.) I. Interrogative uses. > 1. To what place? a. in direct questions. > … > > b. Followed by a single word or short phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/15 "2006-03-08T13:24:46Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > You did. My spelling was both deliberate and perfectly correct. > > The question itself is an adaptation from a famous peice of literature, so famous that I can’t even remember the source. But in the context ‘wither’ is the correct spelling. Wither is a somewhat archaic form of ‘whither’ which simpy reflects the age of the original. **Of Whither itslef is now considered obsolete and archaic.** Hey. I was just joshin’ ya. You often make spelling and syntax mistakes. (See bolded part.) “Wither” is _somewhat_ archaic? From your cite– > [@](#): > > Now, **in all senses** , only archaic or literary Again, I bold. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/16 "2006-03-08T22:17:05Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > You often make spelling and syntax mistakes. Not at all. I _routinely_ make spelling mistakes. Syntax less so. > [@](#): > > “Wither” is _somewhat_ archaic? From your cite–Again, I bold. Just to clarify, the OED is referring to all spellings of “whither” when it says “in all senses, only archaic or literary”. Which was precisley my point. “Whither” itself is archaic and no longer in common usage. So suggesting that a slightly older spelling of “wither” is somehow less correct is meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/17 "2006-03-08T22:28:49Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Just to clarify, the OED is referring to all spellings of “whither” when it says “in all senses, only archaic or literary”. Which was precisley my point. “Whither” itself is archaic and no longer in common usage. So suggesting that a slightly older spelling of “wither” is somehow less correct is meaningless. Fair enough. No offense meant. It is odd, however, that of the two spellings of an archaic word you would choose the one that has another, modern meaning. > [@](#): > > Wither \With"er, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Withered; p. pr. & vb. n. Withering.] > > [OE. wideren; probably the same word as wederen to weather (see Weather, v. & n.); or cf. G. verwittern to decay, to be weather-beaten, Lith. vysti to wither.] > > 1. To fade; to lose freshness; to become sapless; to become sapless; to dry or shrivel up. > > Shall he hot pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? --Ezek. xvii. 9. > > 1. To lose or want animal moisture; to waste; to pin? away, as animal bodies. > > This is man, old, wrinkled, faded, withered. --Shak. > > There was a man which had his hand withered. --Matt. xii. 10. > > Now warm in love, now with’ring in the grave. --Dryden. > > 1. To lose vigor or power; to languish; to pass away. ``Names that must not wither.’’ --Byron. > > States thrive or wither as moons wax and wane. --Cowper. > > Source: Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) And, believe it or not, I did not know that “whither” was archaic. I read a lot of poetry. Maybe that’s why. FWIW, the reason I know about your routine spelling errors is I make a point of reading what you post. You have taken a few chunks out of my wall of ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/18 "2006-03-08T23:00:46Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > It is odd, however, that of the two spellings of an archaic word you would choose the one that has another, modern meaning. And as I took pains to point out above, that is because it is a play on an old literary source that spells it in that manner. Just as I would say " A pox on thy software" and not “A pox on your software”. I am well aware that "thy"has not been common English at any time since software was invented. I am simply being faithful to the original source. Unfortunately those sorts of things don’t work if the audience doesn’t understand that there is an original source. They simply assume any word not in the modern dictionary is a typo, rather than being an accurate transcription of the original. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/19 "2006-03-09T00:26:48Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > And as I took pains to point out above, that is because it is a play on an old literary source that spells it in that manner. Just as I would say " A pox on thy software" and not “A pox on your software”. I am well aware that "thy"has not been common English at any time since software was invented. I am simply being faithful to the original source. > > Unfortunately those sorts of things don’t work if the audience doesn’t understand that there is an original source. They simply assume any word not in the modern dictionary is a typo, rather than being an accurate transcription of the original. What original? Whither this or whither that is a stock phrase in pre-20th century English literature. I’d like to see this cite you refer to so often. And I’d particularly like to see whether it’s spelled in the way you suggest in this ‘famous’ quote. One could make almost any typo imaginable and produce a spelling of whither to match from the OED, there’s a proliferation of variants, as there is with a majority of words in the big dic. Until you produce the cite I’ll go with typo, plain and simple. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309/20 "2006-03-09T04:34:58Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I’d like to see this cite you refer to so often. Did you even bother to read my posts? You know, where I said I couldn’t remember what the original was. FCOL I couldn’t tell you what the source of “A pox on ???” is either. Nonetheless I know that the original exists in classical literature, I know I have seen the original (presumably Shakespeare). I have simply forgotten what it was. > [@](#): > > Until you produce the cite I’ll go with typo, plain and simple. Now you are just being obtuse, ignorant and rude. I have stated in no uncertain terms that it was **not** a typo. You are simply calling me a liar. I have no further inclination to discuss this or anything else with you. Good day. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wither-the-raelians/347309.md?page=2)