Friday, July 23, 2010

Sincerity

There is no real etymological evidence it seems, but I have read in several places that "sincere" derives from the Latin words "sine" (without) and "cera" (wax). Unscrupulous Roman stoneworkers, the story goes, would sometimes cut corners by applying a thick coating of shiny wax to marble rather than taking the time to polish or sculpt the stone properly. So widespread was this practice, that honest sculptors had to advertise their wares as being "sine cera" (without wax) to reassure their customers. "Sincere" eventually came to be used more generally to mean "honest" and "straightforward."

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