the new limits of "novel" (UNCLASSIFIED)

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Tue Mar 29 13:37:23 UTC 2011


Thanks, Garson. The Shakespearean examples vindicate my early-warning radar
for the perverse.  Inglish marches on with youth in the vanguard.

As for "novel" = "*text or libretto," all a lexicographer can do today is
warn.

JL
On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 9:06 AM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: the new limits of "novel" (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here are two examples of the word novel applied to a play from a few years
> ago.
>
> In the novel Hamlet who was the character name Yorick?
> 5 years ago
> http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060907195907AAiExxb
>
> What is the theme of the novel "merchant of venice"? by shakespeare..
> 2 years ago
> http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090121111149AAcmiEe
>
> But I wonder, Jon, how you will prevent the confusion caused when
> "book" is used in the following sense.
>
> The Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical is awarded to librettists of
> the spoken, non-sung dialogue, and storyline of a musical play.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Award_for_Best_Book_of_a_Musical
>
> On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 8:14 AM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: the new limits of "novel" (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Gee, guys, it feels great to be up there with Gresham, Keynes, Hubble,
> > Murphy, Boyle, Ohm, Kirchhoff, Zipf, Grimm, Burke, et al. But there is a
> > more disturbing corollary to Lighter's Law:
> >
> > "Anything broadcast by communications media will be believed and embraced
> by
> > somebody."
> >
> > It seems certan that the drift of _novel_ from "book-length work of
> fiction"
> > to "book-length work of fiction or nonfiction" resulted from simple
> > misunderstanding enforced by continued ignorance. The hypothetical
> broader
> > meaning ("*any lengthy creative work") could have a similar trajectory.
> >
> > With luck it won't, but indeed time will tell.
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 6:07 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
> >
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> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> >> Subject:      Re: the new limits of "novel" (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> Given my experience with journalism students, I agree completely.
> >>
> >> VS-)
> >>
> >> On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 6:03 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
> >> <Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> I don't want to think so. Surely the boundary between "fiction" and
> >> > "drama"
> >> >> is still widely recognized. It's easier to assume that somebody at
> CNN
> >> > just
> >> >> didn't know what he was talking about.
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > " It's easier to assume that somebody at [any given media or internet
> >> > outlet; a political office; anyplace with a microphone or keyboard]
> just
> >> > didn't know what he was talking about."
> >> >
> >> > I propose this as Lighter's Law.
> >> >
> >> > I predict it will zoom past Murphy's in importance as the years go by.
> >>
> >>  ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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