Ranjit Bhatnagar <ranjit at best.com>
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Azoth -- an alchemical term for mercury. My best guess is that it's a punning reference to Terminus Est, Severian's sword in the New Sun books. (Master Gurloes translated "terminus est" as "this is the line of division," but I like to imagine Arnold Schwartzeneger translating it as "I am the Terminator." Anyway, the azoth is certainly a line of division.)
I always preferred to translate "Terminus Est" as "It is finished". And when that sword gets through with you, it is definetely all over! 8^)
In addition to "mercury", my dictionary (the huge Merriam-Webster) also gives "the universal remedy of Paracelsus" as a meaning for "azoth". If you think about it, the azoth was a pretty drastic remedy, just like Terminus Est! And yes, I want one!
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Die Welt ist alles, was Zerfall ist.
(apologies to Ludwig Wittgenstein) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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