Talk:Harbinger (term)

(Original usage)
This article needs to seriously address the is in serious need of addressing the true origin of the term. "Harbinger" comes from the Middle English herbengar and describes a detachment of troops on the march who are sent ahead of an army with the mission to procure secure food and lodgings in whatever city or town the army will encounter on the march. It is for this precise reason why the word "harbinger" has become known as a foretelling sign, since these advance troops are a warning for the villagers of the approaching army.The current article addresses only the connotation of derived from the word and completely ignores the its literal origin of its denotation  meaning. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.91.171.42 (talk) 16:09, :13, :20, :22, 21 March 2006 and by 192.31.106.34 (talk) 14:09, 22 March 2006 (Consult page history for details.) —Vandalism (or botched refactoring) of preceding comment reverted by Jerzy•t 21:02, 6 October 2010 (UTC), losing second version of 14:11, 26 July 2007 by 76.103.214.212 (talk) -MarSch 14:41, 5 April 2006 (UTC)
 * aah, this was exactly what I was looking for :)

(Vandalism)
Could someone please revert to the previous version, 123179582. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.170.48.101 (talk) 05:25, 19 May 2007
 * The number cited is the revision reference number for the immediately preceding revision; the day-old vandalism was corrected within hours as requested. --Jerzy•t 07:39, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

(Sourcing)
This page needs to site some sources —Preceding unsigned comment added by Weirdoalisa (talk • contribs) 02:30, 4 June 2007 —Vandalism (or botched refactoring) of preceding comment reverted by Jerzy•t 21:02, 6 October 2010 (UTC), losing first version of 14:11, 26 July 2007 by 76.103.214.212 (talk)

("Psychology" section)
The bulk of this article, the 'psychology' section is not actually about harbingers. The analysis is only from one school in psychology. There are other analyses from different schools, and of course there are even more outside of psychology. I don't think it's the place of an encyclopaedia to promote one idea over another. Oliver Low (talk) 01:50, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

(Lead)
The introduction seemed a little distainful of the concept. The wording might need some changing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.4.181.47 (talk) 03:21 & :22 (3 edits), 8 September 2008

Relgious interpretations

 * The following contrib has been re-formatted to avoid the previously powerful impression that it had been garbled.

I removed
 * , and may not be considered to be prophecy until the foretold events occur

which is inaccurate. Many of the prophecies in scripture concern the end of days, the last judgement, etc., which have not yet occurred. Oliver Low (talk) 01:53, 12 March 2008 (UTC)
 * This article, while interesting, does not contain a lot of encyclopedic information. I second the notion presented both by Oliver Low and the fact that it completely lacks the etymological origins of the word. Obviously, I can't be of much help as I came to look up the word as a non-native speaker, but I'd assume this is what most people would want when looking it up on wiki. 80.202.84.36 (talk) 23:44, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
 * God, i hope you're wrong! If that were true, we would be presenting an encyclopedia to mostly folks who don't understand how that differs from a dictionary! --Jerzy•t 08:12, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

Conversion to Rdr
Thank you to the colleague who wisely covered the 6-year accumulation of lexicography, etymology, and several kinds of OR with a Redirect to the Dab page. In the course of over a hundred edits, only one user offered one or two references, namely dictionary ones concerning the etymology. GFDL requires the history be retained (the Dab includes entries derived from additions to the removed text), but WP is NAD, nor a usage guide. If there is an established theological usage of this word (which apparently does not occur in KJV or RSV), let's see some examples and evidence that such usages reflect usage of widely influential theologians, and clarity about what distinguishes a harbinger from a prophecy or forerunner. That seems unlikely, as 3 quality dictionaries make no hint of any specialized use but the military one and harbinger of spring, and the four presumably common searches that Google suggests to those who type "harbinger" are these:
 * harbinger capital
 * harbinger pvp fit
 * harbinger definition
 * harbinger falcone

--Jerzy•t 08:59, 7 October 2010 (UTC)