Valentine’s Day
Why is Valentine’s Day named after St. Valentine?
And who was this guy?
Posted on February 13, 2008 · Filed Under Lessons
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Why is Valentine’s Day named after St. Valentine?
And who was this guy?
Posted on February 13, 2008 · Filed Under Lessons
This was my random lesson and you are a saint. word request “icon”
valentine’s day is just a big marketing stunt !!!!
Well I’ve almost worked my way through all your video’s and I found some interesting ones. This one struck a chord with me though as I recently wrote a short article for my school newspaper about this very subject. I loved doing the research on it and I came up with all 3 theory’s that you put forth. I personally prefer the Lupercalia theory though, guess I’m just a pagan at heart. Anyway, I thought I would share my article with you and your students. I hope you like it.
http://media.www.arbiteronline.com/media/storage/p aper890/news/2008/02/14/Opinion/Dont-Wait.For.Feb. 14.To.Say.i.Love.You-3209715.shtml?reffeature=rece ntlycommentedstoriestab
Nice article Rick! I wrote a comment on the website.. so I hope they approve it!
Thanks for the kind words Marina. I’m glad you liked it.
this is my worse day i can think of 2 days straight,so i hope you had/have a wonderful day marina on this day..
As you probably know, it’s curently Lent, which ends on Easter Sunday. Traditionally, (and for a reason unknown to me) we celebrate a giant rabbit that hides eggs and goodies for little children. I was wondering if you could find the origin of the Easter Bunny in honor of the upcoming holiday. Also, could you find the link that ties this massive egg hiding rabbit to the resurection of Jesus Christ? I’m really curious to find out where we got this odd tradition.
Your newly devoted fan,
Chrisby280
¿que opinas de la lengua castellana? tambien conocida como el español
My pleasure
Cheers for the valintine e mail…..as apostman i was delivering 100’s to c
my customers it was great to come back from a hard day to find a E-mail from you ……..SO……heres a Love poem for you ….
If hugs where seconds i would give you hours.
if kissis where rain drops i would send you showes.
if a smile was water i would send you the sea.
If love was a person i would send you me .
…….POETRY……good word to use……???????
of course you’re hot for us
I didn’t get a card from you
Like the new video.
James
Marina, this is Legendary, an awesome legend. so, im requesting a word. the word is “yesterday”. i never understood the whole “yester” part. oh and another word i request is in my name, “legend”.
-Legendary
P.S- are you a model?
Hey there, today at work I was going through a contract for a new account and found some interesting lingo. The excerpt from the contract reads, “Beards, facial stubble, vandykes, goatees, manchurians… ~ …are not acceptable.”
I would love to know the origins of the words, “vandykes” and “manchurians”. I know that manchurian must be related to the urban, “Fu Manchu”.
Thanks much from my boss and I
Hi Marina,
Hey, you’re not giving us enough homework. I think you should start a separate homework section. Do videos where you just assign homework, and take answers in a way that doesn’t show the answers in this blog form. Then you can give out prizes to your star students.
I am willing to bet that you read a lot. So, how about a book club page? You assign reading material, and then participate in a discussion blog.
I recommend “Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar” - it’s a book I just read using jokes to explain philosophy. There is also “Aristotle and an Aardvark” which explains politics.
Well, your site is coming along nicely, and I have no doubt that you will be a millionaire soon.
Best of luck,
Eric
> I recommend [...]
and what exactly have those books to do with etymology?
how about these:
Fertig, David (1998): The ge- participle prefix in Early New High German and the modern dialects. American Journal of Germanic Linguistics and Literatures 10.237-278.
Börjars, Kersti / Kate Burridge (2003): Origins and Development of the Pennsylvania German ‘for…to’ construction (Preliminary Version).
Katzner, Kenneth (2002): The Languages of the World.
no? well. I guess we’ll have to keep commenting on the videos …
ah, crap. ” … do those books have to do …”
DUDE come on thats why we have school more homework. yea shes a teacher, a HOT teacher at the matter, but she wont come up with so much homework
-Legendary
Dear Marina
I want to know where did the word “ENGLISH” came from,who said it the first time and why did he/she chose it to be english “ENGLISH”?Thanks for being there.
English is an Anglo-Frisian language. Germanic-speaking peoples from northwest Germany (Saxons and Angles) and Jutland (Jutes) invaded what is now known as Eastern England around the fifth century AD. It is a matter of debate whether the Old English language spread by displacement of the original population, or the native Celts gradually adopted the language and culture of a new ruling class, or a combination of both of these processes
The Norman Conquest of England in 1066 greatly influenced the evolution of the language. For about 300 years after this, the Normans used Anglo-Norman, which was close to Old French, as the language of the court, law and administration. By the latter part of the fourteenth century, when English had replaced French as the language of law and government, Anglo-Norman borrowings had contributed roughly 10,000 words to English, of which 75% remain in use. These include many words pertaining to the legal and administrative fields, but also include common words for food, such as mutton and beef.
The Norman influence heavily influenced what is now referred to as Middle English. Later, during the English Renaissance, many words were borrowed directly from Latin (giving rise to a number of doublets) and Greek, leaving a parallel vocabulary that persists into modern times
While we’re on the topic of love, just who is the original John in a Dear John letter–when was it first used, etc?
thnx,
-H
Ahoy Ahoy,
Ahoy,
……………
No answer. Beep!
Dear Marina,
There is another historical day similar to Valentine’s Day which is Sepandarmaz Day. Sepandarmaz is the 4th angel known as the Love Guardian Angel. It is originated from old Persia about few thousand years ago and surprisingly, it’s just 5 days after the Valentine!
Well, St. Valentine story comes from the ancient Rome and we also know that Romans and Persians had a close relationships for hundreds of years (mostly war, peace, war, war, peace, peace and so on!). So, we may have another Indo-european originated theory for the Valentine. Who knows?!
Hi! I have a couple of newer words that I’m curious about. They are the computer terms “reboot” and “cookies”. I look forward to the next lesson.
Jim
Marina
Thanks for the Valentine
For you ….Feliz dia de Amor y Amistad
Thanks for being You and making me better
MIckey aka elmic
Ty for being my Valentine. I’m glad I subscribed you on you tube.com I’ve been watching your lessons very often and they were great! I’ve got a birthday coming up next week and I like to request a word birthday. Is there any other origins for birthday that you know? well I gtg, you’re the sexiest teacher I’ve known. Thanks again for the card! happy Valentine’s!!!!!
Eric
Great Video Marina! I stumbled on your YouTube Channel and was very interested in your videos!
How about finding the origin of names of the months! Like January…February…ect.
Thanks!
~Chris
Happy day-after Valentine’s Day Marina…
Schmooched would have been another good word to do for Valentine’s Day… but you’d have to talk to me about it’s origin because I made it up. It’s the longest monosyllabic word (not in the dictionary). 
Hey Teacher
and happy valentines day to you as well.
thanks for the card, i wil cherish it and you forever
could you investigate the word (Earth) for me. i’ve requested this before but no response, i realize your probably as busy as you are beautiful but i’ve hit a brick wall trying to find its origin and could use your help…and in return you can use me
thank you for the continuing education and keep up the good work girl
Admiring you always
4Real
I hope you had a great V-Day. You deserve the day off to be wined and dined after creating 101 fantastic videos. After you sober up, could you investigate the word BOOZE. I found several conflicting origins, but can’t figure out which one is right. Thanks.
happy valentines day teacher!!!
am i really your valentine this year?LOL!
God bless you and more power to your batteries so you can upload all your wonderful and entertaining videos!
Good morning from the Caribbean Islands to my *HOT* and dear teacher:
English is not my first language, so I was asking myself about a curious word from your language:
When you want to -unfortunately- dismiss an employee, it’s said that he or she is “*FIRED*”. I don’t find the relation between the fact of leave a job and the process related with flames, or burnout.
Could you please explain the origin of the phrase being “Fired” when you are dismissed from a job?
Best regards, and a hug from the warm caribbean. Come visit us soon!
Angelo Barelli.
PS1:
Thanks for your great website. I really enyoyed your Valentine’s card! It’s my wallpaper now. Please create several wallpapers about you as soon as possible.
PS2:
Please pardon my bad english, as I mentioned, it’s not my first language.
Hi Marina,
Thanks for a great lesson today! What about ,abominable? I think I may start to feel this way, with all the snow we are getting up here in Aspen.
xo,
R
Hey Marina,
Happy Valentines Day! Thanks for the great card. How about foreplay, um, that is history of the word, etc?
xo,
R
Hi Marina,
Happy Valentine’s Day too!
drunk as a skunk
drunk as a skunk
“Chauvinist”
If i’m not mistaken, the word does not inherently carry a male connotation.
Pull my finger
Thanks for answering my question Marina! I think I can speak for everyone in saying that you make us all hot for words.
Oh, and it was super cute the way you said my name, but think of the 3 as an E and the 5 as an S - NEWBS
Get it?
Keep up the good work and come to Vegas soon!
N3WB5
Chagrin.
What the heck is a chagrin & a pissAnt?
later Squirt
Thank you for the card, Marina! Also, I enjoyed the video about the origin of Valentine’s Day. I have always liked the holiday, because usually everything about it is pure and simple, wether it’s merchandise or not :p.
xo,
D. M.
What is the oragen of Soccer?
Ahoy, Marina,
Thank you for the card.
You said it was going to be very special, but WOW!
I shall treasure it for ever.
Your devoted student
Bob
To my trusty Teacher,
, bold and captivating, adoreable and Original!
I got your Valentine’s Day card!! Thank you!!
You are my faverite techer of all! el oh el. You are brave and valiant; your trusty lesson-sabre educates nincompoops around the globe. You’re courageous and FUNNY
Thanks again & keep up the good work!
As for tonight, let’s pick up some muis deliciouso takeout, picnic by the lake (a special place with no geese, or geese terds) and we’ll walk… and talk… and maybe have a spitting contest!
Meet you at the corner? Last one’s a rotten egg!!
Your trusty Styoodent,
Politricks5
Hey Marina,
Thx for being my valentine
I sended you a little card back, so go check your mailbox
your dear student
Dietrio
Nice exploration of V-day,I had not heard some of that before.
I would like to request the word “mortgage”. Off hand, I would guess it’s from French and means “bond to death” but I think you will explore it in much more depth,if you choose to do it.
Or how about “vitamin”
Hi Marina thanks for the card
Thank you so much for your Valentines card
Dear Marina,
Would you please be kind enough to enlighten me to the origin of the phrase, “The whole nine yards”?
Thank you.
FishyMack
fishymack, There is no known origin for this phrase. It appears in the 1960s in the US Airforce circles, but no conclusive evidence to its origin. Not 9 yards of cloth, machine gun belts, paper, Scottish Kilts, bridal trains, nothing. Alas.
I wish you the best of valentine day Marina … Thx for the card you gave me a smile for the saddest day of my life …. and i will be forever grateful for this
keep up the good work you are more than perfect Marina
Stephan
Recently discovered HotForWords. Now I am thinking about becoming an English major. LOL Word suggestion, psychedelic, as in the creative form of music.
Thanx and Happy V’day
Well i was looking through the list of words and i see you don’t have any U’s. I would like to know about UMBRELLA. Its always been kind of a funny word to me. You could also do FICKLE. Thanks.
Hey Marina, love your work, best thing in vocabulary since Webster.
a friend and I were discussing “bastion” and thought it might have a rich history for your limitless talents to delve.
Thanks, lingolust
It’s from Old French bastillon which if you say with a French accent sounds a lot like bastion, and its directly related to Bastille as in Bastille Day (July 14th) and “storm the bastille.”
It started as the pagan celebration
Then was later adopted by the catholic church and given a saint as a way to keep the festivity and pacify the new converts
(they also did this with Xmas)
Keep the people happy and they dont care what they are celebrating, as long as its close enough and you have a good time doing it…
Happy V-Day, Marina. I remember you said in a previous video that you don’t have a date for V-Day. I guess that means you are splitting time between several suitors today. Maybe you can show us in your next video, some of the flowers, chocolate, jewlery etc that you received. Thanks.
HAPPY VALLENTINES DAY MARINA.
Hello Marina,
May love bless your house, may romance fill your life and may all your dreams come true, God bless you.
Here is a short poem to you; can you work out what all the days are in quotes? (Indeed I’m sure all your pupils maybe interested to know the meaning of the days as well)
Poem:
A Day For Lovers!
St. Valentines day be a day for many reasons, of giving and receiving from many different sessions, but form me to you it is a day of loving admiration.
From ‘The Night of Sevens’ to the ‘White Day’ givens that I lay my heart open to you dear lady.
O’ if only I could hold you on ‘Dydd Santes Dwynwen’ day or send you a rose, a single red rose on ‘ Saint Gregory’s’ day, then I would be the most luckiest man in the universe.
St. Valentines day, be it fall or spring, I would be your slave to command if you give me your hand dear lady.
Be it may, that is to say; I would love you for eternity on this ‘Friend’s day’, however I would love to be your love on ‘Sweethearts day’.
O’ if it be that on the fourteenth you would break my heart, then surely on ‘Sepandarmazgan’ I could be given just one more chance, O’ how I would hold you tight in my heart.
Now I know that I be a ‘Black Day’ person, and you be a beautiful woman, a lady of intellect, could you be my dream come true, on ‘Valentines Day’ for lovers dear lady, for lovers…
Poem end.
Valentines day in an historical context is somewhat hazy, however I like to think of some one I admire and love on this day.
May love bless your heart!
Happy Valentines Day!
jcnick
P.S.
Have you sent your e-cards out, it seems that I haven’t got one from yourself.
Going out today… I wanted to give everyone a chance to sign up first
Ah dear lady, my heart is breaking; however I will write you another poem on another day, to try and win your heart. Have a great day, may peace be with you!
jcnick…
Hello Marina,
I got your card, you look beautifully sweet, sexy, and I will admire your beauty till the end of time, for being my valentine this day.
Did you like my red rose, and what did you think of my poem?
May the rest of your day be filled with love and joy!
jcnick.
jcnick,
Man, no offense but ur a freakin hippy yo. im serious you remind me of a gay shakespeare. naw man im just jokin in the whole gay shakespeare thing but nice poem that shouldve turned Marina on
Jcnick is right. you do look, in his words, beautifully HOT, SWEET, and SEXY
-Legendary
Cheers legendary,
I’m an Irish poet/musician and I ‘Thank you’ for recognizing art my friend, I like writing like the old masters and hey if I had to play a woman, Shakespeare himself would love it. Although the poem is from a man to a woman!
jcnick.
Hey Teach,
Happy Valentine! Last night some pupils of our class had a few lemonades on the occasion of your 100th lesson. Lots of toasts (but no alcohol!). Then one of us asked: where does the word ‘cocktail’ come from? And why does it mean: mixed drink? We had a really etymological discussion, several daring hypotheses were brought forward. But nobody was sure, so we decided to ask you to investigate and give us one of your inspiring lectures…
X
Hey Teach, Just a little FYI…..medieval scholar Jack Oruch, in the July 1981 issue of Speculum (Journal of Medieval Studies), makes a strong case that the Saint Valentine’s Day connection to love and romance derives solely from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Parliament of Foules. Even though Chaucer connects the romantic overtones of Saint Valentine’s Day to ancient customs, Oruch effectively argues that no such traditions existed before Chaucer’s time. Thus, modern research suggests it is unlikely that secular Saint Valentine’s Day customs are pagan practices derived from the Roman Lupercalia……
and I would still like to know the origin of the word “pornography”…
peace and Stuff
Deimos
uh huh.
the entire article can be found right here.
I have a good friend. she knows a lot. her name is webster, merriam webster. this is what she told me when I asked her about “pornography”:
“Etymology:
Greek pornographos, adjective, writing about prostitutes, from pornē prostitute + graphein to write; akin to Greek pernanai to sell, poros journey”
This is one of my favorite lessons because there is no final solution
I like #1 because the soldiers wanted to ‘make love not war’. Always commendable. 
And in line with what soldiers & sailors really believe.
I like #3 because early Christianity leaders appropriated many pagan rites to smooth the transition.Useful
To the other viewers; when our Teacher moves closer to the camera, do you find yourself moving closer to the screen?
Please put these bloopers in your replay library.
Does the word blackguard have any racial connotation? Are women who are called broads called that because they have child-bearing hips? Did your breasts get bigger (or are you just pushing them up a lot)?
> Did your breasts get bigger
> (or are you just pushing them up a lot)?
I’ll just copy&paste two of my comments from youtube.
—-
alxlej (vor 1 Woche)
could you people just stop talking about her boobs [...]?
I’m pretty sure she knows what she looks like. [...] though I guess she takes it as a compliment.
whatever.
she does a great job explaining all kinds of things to you and all some people care about is her boobs.
wtf.
—-
alxlej (vor 1 Woche)
in her videos, it says “intelligence is sexy”, not “I’m sexy, look at my boobs”.
if she’d just want to be looked at she’d do a strip or something.
and yes, she’s good-looking but that’s not her fault. what’s she supposed to do? wear turtlenecks and put on sun glasses?
I’m just saying that you should pay attention to what she’s telling you and reply to _that_. not her boobs.
actually, I’d love to see her doing a video dressed like that. just once.
Alex,
watch the werewolf video
Bob
ah, right.
she’s not wearing sun glasses in that video though.
so, marina, here’s a dress request: turtleneck, sun glasses, and a cap. hehe.
by the way, I always liked the “are you still with me?” part.
There’s no point in her wearing sunglasses; the sun is shining out of her eyes - it’s we who need the sunglasses so we’re not dazzled by her beauty.
yeah, well, whatever.
I think it would be funny.
marinas morris,
Wow. Just wow. The, “…sun is shining out of her eyes…” that imagery was…wow, just wow. But that doesn’t even touch a recent post. Let me try and remember it. It kinda went, “You are a beautiful land mass and I am the ocean lapping at your inlets.” Now that is a metaphor! I used that one on my wife and she said, “dam.” Now that is a homophone! If you wrote the beautiful land mass bit, then you are awesome.
buzzword
eh?
iew.
“Estimates suggest that nearly 1.5 billion people lack safe drinking water and that at least 5 million deaths per year can be attributed to waterborne diseases. With over 70 percent of the planet covered by oceans, people have long acted as if these very bodies of water could serve as a limitless dumping ground for wastes. Raw sewage, garbage, and oil spills have begun to overwhelm the diluting capabilities of the oceans, and most coastal waters are now polluted. Beaches around the world are closed regularly, often because of high amounts of bacteria from sewage disposal, and marine wildlife is beginning to suffer.” [1]
I wouldn’t want to be a land mass.
Buzzword wrote
It wasn’t me. A bit too graphic for polite society imo.
alx wrote
Not to mention all the £$!) that we send to landfill, clogging up the land masses orifices…
These metaphors are getting too metaphysical methinks! Enough already!
Let’s try that again!
Buzzword wrote “If you wrote the beautiful land mass bit… ”
It wasn’t me. A bit too graphic for polite society imo.
alx wrote “I wouldn’t want to be a land mass… ”
Not to mention all the £$!) that we send to landfill, clogging up the land masses orifices…
These metaphors are getting too metaphysical methinks! Enough already!
Hey Marina,
Love the lessons!
Congrats on your maiden Century.
Thanx 4 the V Day Smooch!
Suitigres
Senior alx,
Usted es correcto, pero usted tendrá que traducir esto averiguar. Ha! Los idiomas de romance empezaron con latín vulgar.
buzzword
я не говорю испанский язык. :/
i am really happy….. not for walentine, just because there is another russian speaker! alx, marina, me, who else?…. but i speak spanish
happy valentines for all
Greetings from the northern land
A corretion is SEÑOR not SENIOR, is difficult for americans or people like me, who don’t use that characters,or use other alphabet but you can copy and paste from other site.
Don’t worry is one of the most common mistakes when kids start writing spanish because the sound of Ñ is similar to N+ the vowel i
greetings
In addition we can see clearly that you don’t speak spanish or you are learning because the first sentence have got no sense at all… the correct reply is like this:
Señor Alx
Usted esta en lo correcto, pero tendrá que traducir esto
whoever is right, I figured out what it means.
hitman, what makes you think she’s russian? maybe she’s polish or czech or … well … she likes endorphine … their website’s top level domain is .sk … maybe she’s slovakian. hm. slavic nontheless.
argh. “nonetheless” …
Yes, of course, you are write maybe she’s from other part East Europe
hitman,
I apologize for my Spanish. I rarely speak Spanish or any language other than AMERICAN! As a citizen of the U.S. and because of the Bush Administration it is against the law to speak, write or think in any language except for AMERICAN! By the way I have to type it that way, its the law. I can’t even call it e n g l i s h or the government will put me in a crumpet and ship me to London. Because alx sent me a reply in Russian I am now under surveillance by V.P. Dick Cheney and Homeland Security. And hitman because you speak three languages your considered a national threat and are probably already in a secret prison. Can I trade you my Bush for your Putin.
Have to go, my phone is ri
You are a insperation for the word love
,, Happy Valentines Day
You are a insperation for the word LOVE,, Happy Valentines
Day Sweety
You are so hot for words
Hey Teach,
I like how you say “February”, it’s adoreable.
Anyway, my question is about the word ‘Fool’.. as in Fool, Foolish, Foolhardy & engaging in Tom Foolery.
Does this word really come from a dolt named Tom Foolery?
How did he earn this nickname?
And “Nick”name, who is this Nick fellow.. Oh the malarky never ends does it?
I’m hungry, let’s go get a taco.
politricks5
Here is a question, the Romance languages, what’s love got to do with it? Hint: its vulgar.
buzzword
vulgar latin — or really vulgar? oO
Not so much a word but a phrase,
Graveyard shift.
The History Channel mentioned that in a story, seems that there was a time when doctors pronounced death on comatose people, a funeral was performed shortly before the comatose person came to, and pounded on the coffin, working it open enough to summon help or scare the bereaved. So someone got a job at the cemetery at late at night listening for the pounding. This became the graveyard shift. Someone else figured out if you attach a rope to a bell and run it into the coffin the “deceased” could summon help better.
I’ll definitely avoid all of those Pagan St. Valentine’s day parties I’ve been invited to. Now I have to figure out what to do with this goat.
buzzword
damn … I wanted to be first. :/
Hello,
i want u to investigate my name,Jake, where does it come from and what does it mean?
More love, less tragedy. There is my global valentine. Anyone listen to, “My Funny Valentine” best by Chet Baker, Miles Davis or Stan Getz. Jazz sets the mood for a perfect Valentine’s Day.
Buzzword
One of my favorites & turned out to be my Mom & Dad’s “song”. It was the Gerry Mulligan/Chet Baker version from Prestige.
I’m going to put that on the turntable now.
THANK YOU
First , I think your lessons are great and I’ve wanted to ask this for s”o long. Glad I found you! Here is a phrase I’d like to request.
‘In and of itself” also Per Se’ has eluded me. Thanks for being there.
First , I think your lessons are great and I’ve wanted to ask this for s”o long. Glad I found you! Here is a phrase I’d like to request.
‘In and of itself” also Per Se’ has eluded me. Thanks for being there.