Re: chopped liver--consciousness-raising is in order

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Mar 5, 2004, at 10:01 AM, RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:

> I've never thought of this as a derogatory reference with respect to
> chopped
> liver per se. Of course, lots of people don't LIKE chopped liver (I'm
> not one
> of them)...

nor am i.

> , and I have to admit that chopped liver is not very pretty, nor does
> it smell like perfume. And we all remember what Portnoy did with liver.
>
> So I guess there may be reasons why people would think of chopped
> liver as
> relatively inconsequential, especially as compared to the importance
> and
> sensitivity of a human being...

my reading of this formula has always been that chopped liver is
inferior to the really good stuff, namely foie gras.  i have absolutely
no evidence that the everyday/elegant comparison is the actual source
of the formula, however.

we all know that interpretations of somewhat opaque formulas can be
idiosyncratic and quite distant from historical sources.

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)