[Ads-l] What is a NOVEL?

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Mon Jul 9 19:05:44 UTC 2018


How about the Bible?  Or the OED?  (Maybe the compact edition of the latter just to be on the safe side.)

> On Jul 9, 2018, at 3:04 PM, David Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET> wrote:
> 
> Based on how my students use the word, "novel" is synonymous with "book." Fiction or non-fiction doesn't matter.
> 
> I've yet to see them use the word to be synonymous with a short poem, but some do call "Beowulf" a "novel."
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Monday, July 09, 2018 9:15 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] What is a NOVEL?
> 
> Hey, Mark, I warned about just this development years ago, with many gratuitous updates!
> 
> And it ain't restricted to fiction!
> 
> JL
> 
> On Mon, Jul 9, 2018 at 8:26 AM Mark Mandel <mark.a.mandel at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I've read somewhere that the use of "novel" is spreading out, like
>> soup spilled on a tablecloth, to include any kind of fiction. Bleah!
>> 
>> Mark Mandel
>> 
>> On Jul 9, 2018 3:28 AM, "Charles C Doyle" <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> A website called "shortlist.com" lists among "the 30 greatest war
>> novels of all time" Shakespeare's _Henry VI_ (the trilogy,
>> apparently).
>> 
>> 
>> --Charlie
>> 
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
> 
> 
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