Re: Nostalgia

[P3D Marvin Jones <72657.3276@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Nostalgia is an interesting ancient Greek word (still in use today), 
> made up from two words:
> 
> -  Nostos = return home and
> -  Algos = pain (found in English too, antialgetic, etc.)
> 
> So the original meaning of "nostalgia" is being homesick and this
> is how it was used in the Homer Epic "Odyssey".  From there it
> expanded to the broader meaning that it has today, both in English
> and modern Greek.  For most people nostalgia associates with the 
> 'good old times', mostly the 50s.  But with several Detroit members 
> in their 30s, the 50s were before their time.  What is nostalgic 
> for me is not for the other guy.

Someone once pointed out to me that generally, popular "nostalgia" fads refer to
a period some 20 years earlier, in other words, for the youth of your typical
middle-aged person. No one today, for instance, is really nostalgic for the turn
of the century, or even for the 'twenties, because few remember them personally.
Today the era of popular nostalgia is the 'sixties and 'seventies. So literally
as well as linguistically, nostalgia is a desire to return home.


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