Re: "House of Rest" and "Mental science"

FB <fam.balducciNOSPAM@xxxxxx> wrote:

> 1) "House of Rest".
> I've looked it up on google, but it appears to indicate a number of very
> different things. Is it often meant as synonymous with "mental hospital"?
> The literal translation into Italian is "casa di riposo", which is out of
> the question, as it usually is an institution where elderly people live
> and can be nursed (English "rest home", I believe). Anyway, it's clearly
> referred to a modern (1920/1930), non-traditional mental hospital, so is
> "house of rest" a common, or just plausible, euphemism for "mental
> hospital"? The fact that "mental home" is the same as "mental hospital"
> and that "home" appears often to recur in the name of clinics seems to
> corroborate my impression.

"House of Rest" is not a common phrase. It is used in the Bible; if you
remove the ten thousand Biblical references by searching on:

"house of rest" -david

you'll see the few hundred that are left. The initial ones look to be
the proper names of places, particularly translations of foreign names.

>
> 2) "Mental science". How is it usually translated? Is it still a common
> word? Google does come up with plenty of occurrences.

Well, when I look at those first Google hits, it is pretty clearly
explained as a 19th-century theory of curing illness without medicines,
particularly as formulated by a Dr. Quimby of Maine. "The Quimby System
of Mental Treatment of Diseases" is given as an influence in the
formation of the Christian Science church, which also disapproves of
medical treatment.
http://jadresser.wwwhubs.com/

It is definitely not a common phrase today.
>
> Two native speakers from England have told me they've never heard of
> either word. Then again, they've been used in the twenties by an educated
> English author.

The 1920s are a long time ago now. The English of that time is still
understandable, but it's amazing how many odd quirks of grammar,
vocabulary, and topical references you will find.

--
Best -- Donna Richoux

.

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