the list

[Anne Gilbert]

Mark:

> Members have been explaining to Mr. Kennerly (if I have his name right)
> some of the things we members and longtime listies take for granted. I
> hope he will take them to heart and, if he wishes, continue to
> participate in our discussions on the same foundations of scholarship
> [and I don't mean credentials!], respect, and civility -- and good
> humor! -- that our community has maintained, well, as long as I've been
> here.
>
> I think we need a list FAQ. It should not be a general FAQ, "all about
> the ADS", though it should include a pointer to the website, and we
> might some time want to create such a general FAQ. The list FAQ should
> be brief, telling the reader what the list is about and for, what sort
> of questions and discussion are welcome, and what is considered out of
> I enjoy most of the inquiries from the general public, and I agree with
> whoever said that we want to keep ourselves available as a resource for
> genuine inquirers, rather than abandoning the field to ignorance and
> folk etymology, which is ignorance by a nom de guerre.

As a member of the "general public" who is a writer and therefore keenly
interested in language in all its forms, I cringe whenever I see letters
like those of Mr. Kennerly's.  In the first place, it tends to discourage
genuine inquiry into the subject at hand, by those who wish to increase
their knowledge of that subject.  IOW, such knowledge is really something
"arcane" which the "unwashed" have no right to know.  Furthermore, while
I've seen some genuinely "cranky" posts here, can't these simply be ignored,
or if troublesome, ban or moderate the person who makes them?  So many lists
are "closed" and "special" as it is.  And the "academics" who run them
clearly don't want the rest of us to trouble them, apparently.  This is fine
in many cases, but language is a universal and learning about it should,
IMHO, be open to any interested party.  IOW, my idea is that the "experts"
are there to share their knowledge, not to hide it.  And since all of us
speak some form of language, it seems to me that in some broad sense "we"
are "experts" too.

My 2 cents worth,
Anne G




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