I think religious orders are full of turns of phrase that sound odd in English, since the context of the loan words in their original language are often different from English usage, but they tend to be translated directly for ease of use between members across multiple languages. For instance, the French community I discerned with uses the term "probation" for the year following common formation. I often had to assure friends and family that there wasn't anything negative implied by the term and that it simply meant I was in a trial period of sorts.
Indeed, Grace—the slight irony in this case being that since Opus Dei is not a religious order, but a religious institution that has since become a personal prelature of the pope, Escrivá specifically sought to avoid the Latin-based terminology typical of religious orders, and chose words from contemporary Spanish use. But it still sounds odd in English! Perhaps in English we could call supernumerary members of Opus Dei “adjunct members” and numeraries, I dunno, “regular members.”
The names numerary and supernumerary, I believe, come from Spain Universities: tenured professors are numerarios, Assistant Professors are supernumerarios, or something like that. The idea was basically the same: if you have exclusive dedication to Opus Dei, or if you have a divided dedication (there's a third group, the associates, who also celibates, but live usually with parents or other relatives).
I had 3 supernumerary teeth. It's not as bad as the wisdom teeth (but they are in addition to them, which makes things not so fun).
But you said so with more authority, Senhor Guilherme! :-) Your comments about supernumerary teeth also come with the authority of experience (I had to have wisdom teeth removed, but that was it). Interesting that the wisdom teeth were worse in your experience!
Supernumerary teeth often have simple roots, so they can be extracted with local anesthesia. The pinch is the worst part of it. Though the pudding diet is the same as for any extraction.
First time I've ever had an occasion to actually get a handle on what the heck "supernumerary" actually means, and I wouldn't have rather learned it in any other way. The connection to something like "superfluous" was actually extremely helpful, and from there it all clicked together: regular old "numerary" members have that sense of "being numbered [among the ordinary class of] members", while "supernumerary" members are more like "beyond those numbered as ordinary members".
I think religious orders are full of turns of phrase that sound odd in English, since the context of the loan words in their original language are often different from English usage, but they tend to be translated directly for ease of use between members across multiple languages. For instance, the French community I discerned with uses the term "probation" for the year following common formation. I often had to assure friends and family that there wasn't anything negative implied by the term and that it simply meant I was in a trial period of sorts.
Indeed, Grace—the slight irony in this case being that since Opus Dei is not a religious order, but a religious institution that has since become a personal prelature of the pope, Escrivá specifically sought to avoid the Latin-based terminology typical of religious orders, and chose words from contemporary Spanish use. But it still sounds odd in English! Perhaps in English we could call supernumerary members of Opus Dei “adjunct members” and numeraries, I dunno, “regular members.”
The names numerary and supernumerary, I believe, come from Spain Universities: tenured professors are numerarios, Assistant Professors are supernumerarios, or something like that. The idea was basically the same: if you have exclusive dedication to Opus Dei, or if you have a divided dedication (there's a third group, the associates, who also celibates, but live usually with parents or other relatives).
I had 3 supernumerary teeth. It's not as bad as the wisdom teeth (but they are in addition to them, which makes things not so fun).
Luis, did you ever consider the possibility that you may have some shark DNA lurking within you? ; -)
That's what I get for not reading the footnotes, I said the same thing as you did in footnote 5.
P.S. I will say, FWIW, that the footnotes are sometimes the best parts of my Substack posts!
But you said so with more authority, Senhor Guilherme! :-) Your comments about supernumerary teeth also come with the authority of experience (I had to have wisdom teeth removed, but that was it). Interesting that the wisdom teeth were worse in your experience!
Supernumerary teeth often have simple roots, so they can be extracted with local anesthesia. The pinch is the worst part of it. Though the pudding diet is the same as for any extraction.
Luis, your voice of experience has enhanced the discussion of this post beyond my hopes! Thank you.
First time I've ever had an occasion to actually get a handle on what the heck "supernumerary" actually means, and I wouldn't have rather learned it in any other way. The connection to something like "superfluous" was actually extremely helpful, and from there it all clicked together: regular old "numerary" members have that sense of "being numbered [among the ordinary class of] members", while "supernumerary" members are more like "beyond those numbered as ordinary members".
Exactly, Daniel! Happy to be of service.