Muleociation

[John McChesney-Young]

"Yerkes, Susan" <SYerkes at EXPRESS-NEWS.NET> asked:

>Sorry, but is this a joke?

In embarrassment at my naivete I confess it was not. I can only
observe that the original inquirer and her colleagues were also taken
in, if that's the appropriate phrase for our common state of
innocence.

>>From a non-technical point of view, seems apparent to me that the student is
>using the word "mule" as a questionably punny
>substitute for the word "ass"

Thanks to a few people who've responded here and on the Latinteach
list I now understand. It's comparable to (e.g.) "woperson" for
"woman," something I suspect has not seen any use other than jocular
- although I wouldn't be *entirely* surprised to be informed
otherwise.

which still is enough to raise some folks'
>hackles (believe me, some publications still get worked up about this sort
>of thing), so I gather he or she is simply carrying the no-ass dictum to
>extremes.

I don't think it was in pursuit of a more refined style, but whether
an attempt to catch the teacher in a state of ignorance or a
genuinely unselfconscious word in the student's vocabulary or out of
some other motivation I can't guess. Even now that I understand it,
I'm puzzled by its use in a serious high school assignment and I'd
still be interested in reports of its non-colloquial use.

John
--


*** John McChesney-Young  **  panis at pacbell.net  **   Berkeley,
California, U.S.A.  ***