publisher for the False Etymology Book

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

I'm glad to see that Frank likes the idea, and that he thinks that it would 
be commercially viable. I have my own biases, of course, but it seems to me 
that if the book were published as a scholarly mongraph (i.e, as a 
PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN DIALECT SOCIETY number) it would carry more 
weight with the world of journalists than something that seemed designed 
primarily to make money. And as a PADS volume it would also be instantly 
distributed to all the major libraries in the world, as well as to the most 
important of the journalistic opinion-makers (Safire, whatever you may think 
about him, generally is meticulous about researching traditional scholarly 
materials, if not letters to the editor and list-serve opinions). 


In a message dated 3/11/03 5:39:33 AM, abatefr at EARTHLINK.NET writes:


<BLOCKQUOTE CITE STYLE="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px> What Larry H says below in response to Barry P's lament is right on.  A book
> skewering false etyms would help.  It would NOT stop people -- even some
> smart and fairly well-informed people -- from repeating etymythologies.
> That is a vain hope.  They will continue to appear, and in "major" sources,
> forever.  If the NYT (now) prints typos and various language gaffes nearly
> every day, then there is little reason to imagine that false etyms will 
> stop
> appearing in print, there or elsewhere.  Ignorance of etymology knows no
> bounds, and practically nobody cares about it, esp. if the etymythology
> makes a good story and fills some lines.
> 
> The ideal false-etymology book would include much of Barry's original
> research, with a great deal from Fred S, too, and would be edited by the
> likes of Jerry Cohen.  It would be published, ideally, by a major dict
> publisher.  It would be mentioned, ideally, after it came out, by Safire in
> his "Gifts of Gab" column, which runs every Dec, before the holiday 
> shopping
> rush.  It would then sell a few thousand copies (if decently promoted,
> beyond sending Safire a copy), and thereafter linger on some bookstore
> shelves for years, selling in dribs and drabs.  It would then quietly be
> pulled out of print, and die peacefully, remaining in evidence only on
> library shelves.
> 
> Sorry, but I am in cynical mode today.
> 
> Frank Abate
> 
>