critical age

[Mark_Mandel at DRAGONSYS.COM]

Peter Richardson <prichard at LINFIELD.EDU> writes:

>>>>>
     [...]
The realization that the standard is spoken by those who have power over
the lives of those who don't speak it is pretty alarming, I'll wager, and
my guess is that that realization can come like a lightning bolt or on
little cat feet, depending on the person and the circumstances. Ambrose
Bierce anticipated this argument nicely when he termed language "the music
we use to charm the serpents guarding another's treasure" (or something to
that effect; I don't have the Devil's Dictionary at hand right now).
<<<<<

<grin> I keep it right by my desk, and you're almost exactly right:

     Language, n. The music with which we charm the serpents
     guarding another's treasure.

My copy is a paperback Dolphin Book from Doubleday, no printing date; what is
left of the spine appears to bear the number C22, and the cover price is 95
cents!

-- Mark
   There's a filk in there somewhere... for all values of "there".