Timeline for Grammar of "Love is the pearl of great worth"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
4 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 30, 2013 at 16:21 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | I doubt that! Anyway, I bet you knew or at least suspected the origin. But if you look at the comparatively few instances in print using "the", I think you'll agree they do seem to be targeted at a readership you might well expect to be more familiar with biblical quotes than the average Joe. And it did seem to pop up around the time of the Great Depression, perhaps a time when more people might have been looking for some metaphorical/metaphysical pearl to compensate for the failure of Mammon to deliver the goods! | |
| Jan 30, 2013 at 8:27 | comment | added | Barrie England | @FumbleFingers. You have greater confidence than I have in contemporary knowledge of the scriptures. | |
| Jan 29, 2013 at 22:31 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | I'm not sure this really explains why. It does indeed depend on what the writer intends. Almost certainly the writer is familiar with the biblical original, and assumes his reader will be too. So by using the, he intends to make reference to that original, rather than explicitly repeat/re-use it. | |
| Jan 29, 2013 at 8:38 | history | answered | Barrie England | CC BY-SA 3.0 |