Talk:Crossroads (culture)

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I always believed the word trivia (three roads) came from the seven subjects taught in ancient Roman schools (and I can't for the life of me remember what those subjects were, but I'm sure there's some expert out there who can put me straight...). These were divided into the quadrivium ("four roads") and the trivium ("three roads"). Because the quadrivium was considered the most important part of the course, anything that was not considered important was referred to as "trivial". See? Nothing to do with Crossroads at all, although Crossroads was a trivial soap opera.

The modern use of the word trivia comes from John Gay's 1716 book, "Trivia, or the Art of Walking the Streets of London." Because it was full of minute observations of common life, information of that sort came to be known as trivial. The trivium and quadrivium were medieval, by the way, not ancient.
According to the OED, the etymology is Trivium (medieval Latin for the 'three ways' of Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic) -> trivialis (med. L. adjective) -> trivial (English adj., 1432-50, meaning 'of the Trivium') -> trivial meaning 'trifling' (1593) -> trivia (1902, but the above para. suggests earlier). -- Heron

[edit] US radio program?

There was apparently also a US radio program of this name. [1] Does anyone know enough to add something to the article? -- Jmabel | Talk 20:13, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] New page title

I am thinking that Crossroads (metaphor) would be a better title for this page than Crossroads (culture). If nobody objects, I shall move the page. Ae-a 14:38, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

  • Well OK, but I think that the word culture reflects the crossover aspects of culture better. Whilst metaphor may be a correct technical definition, it doesn't automatically lend itself to the mixing of cultures. (RM21 15:23, 10 June 2006 (UTC) )