Tuesday, December 25, 2007

December 25, 2007 - Schol, etc. (for School)

Today is the birthday of Jesus and it is also a day off from school. Jesus Christ was many things to many people, and one of them was a teacher. In the Book of Matthew, it's written: "And someone came to Him and said, 'Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?'" and Christ answered him: "Go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven." Around eight or so instances of Schols (out of a total of 37) in OhioLINK are typos for the word schools. The majority are personal names. This one appears on the "More List" portion of the Ballard list, spellings that are correct in some contexts, but incorrect in others. There are also 41 hits on Schol. Again, some are personal names (or foreign words), but a fair share of them are typos for school. OhioLINK also reveals eight records containing Shools and 24 containing Shool. Some of these may be an older, variant spelling of the Yiddish word shul, which is itself derived from the German word for school. (Pictured is a haven for schoolchildren in Lake Placid, New York, the North Country School, established in 1938, following the founding of Camp Treetops, located on the same property, in 1921.)

Carol Reid

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