The Vocabula Review -- Vol. 3, No. 11

Sun Nov 18 12:12:43 UTC 2001

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The November issue of The Vocabula Review (TVR) is now online at
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THE VOCABULA REVIEW

November 2001 -- Vol. 3, No. 11

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Robert Hartwell Fiske, Editor and Publisher, editor at vocabula.com

A society is generally as lax as its language.
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Coming in the December issue of The Vocabula Review: "Nice Distinctions" by
Julian Burnside

Julian Burnside is an Australian barrister with a keen interest in the
English language. He writes regularly about words and language. He also
writes about notable criminal trials and is the author of "Matilda and the
Dragon," a children's book in verse (Allen & Unwin, 1991).

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IN THIS ISSUE

The Game of the Name -- Marylaine Block
Writing: The Democratization of American Letters -- Christopher Lord
Bumper Bites -- Tina Bennett-Kastor
The Art of Conversation -- Tim Buck
Grumbling About Grammar
Elegant English
On Dimwitticisms
Clues to Concise Writing
Scarcely Used Words
Oddments and Miscellanea
On the Bookshelf
Letters to the Editor

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The Game of the Name

One of the things that makes me despair of the Democratic party is that its
leaders don't understand why their own issues are always discussed on terms
set by Republicans. They simply do not grasp the power of naming: those who
name a problem define it, decide which field the game will be played on, and
set the rules of play. Because Republicans have been so good at naming
issues, Democrats have found themselves voting to keep the "death tax," not
the estate tax. Since Republicans also have an uncanny ability to get there
first with a catchy name for any issue, and to get all of their members to
use that name and spout the party line, they constantly force Democratic
leaders to react to Republican definitions rather than to define their own
issues.

More: http://www.vocabula.com

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Writing: The Democratization of American Letters

The English novelist Martin Amis, in the preface to a newly published
collection of essays, (1) writes of the democratization of literary taste,
and in particular of literary criticism, arguing that the Internet, among
other factors, has contributed to an atmosphere in which everyone has an
equal right to an opinion, and in which the elitist standards of previous
decades must therefore be abandoned. Nevertheless, he is confident that
"literature will resist leveling and revert to hierarchy." This is a
comforting doctrine for those at the top of the tree, particularly, as in Mr
Amis's case, when it might be mentioned that Daddy's connections might have
had something to do with his earlier successes. It expresses a thought that
most littérateurs, famous or not, would probably agree with in some form: the
thought, that is, that there is some special talent that provides a piece of
writing with that extra sparkle that makes it worth reading in the first
place. Fiction, essays, criticism, even journalism: if it is vivified by this
magical force, this élan, it will be transfigured and become, yes,
literature. The highbrow publishing industry, the literary weeklies, and the
English departments of universities could hardly stay in business without
such a premise to justify their activities.

More: http://www.vocabula.com

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Bumper Bites

At least a decade or two before the sound bite became such a popular tool in
American political conversation, ordinary citizens began an equally condensed
dialogue on the backs of their cars. Like graffiti, short and pithy, bumper
stickers are a literary genre ideally suited to hurried Americans who may
nevertheless feel morally obligated to express opinions. If we don't have an
opinion, at least we can display our affiliation or our sense of humor or a
few words of folksy advice during the fleeting seconds that others have to
size us up before the light turns green. Because they make reference to
various extended public discourses, bumper bites are intertextual in nature.
They allow us to state the thesis without the supporting paragraphs, or to
run up our flag even when we don't have time to defend the ground.

More: http://www.vocabula.com

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The Art of Conversation

I speak, therefore I am, even when my words echo silently in the cavern of
consciousness.  But when you speak, do I grant you the equal measure of
existence?  Our relations to one another are necessarily strung on the
filament of language.  I wonder:  do we realize how fragile this thread of
communal existence is?  How a lack of conscious maintenance causes that cord
to continually fray?  This essay is about our speaking and about our
listening.  It is about the art of conversation.

More: http://www.vocabula.com

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