Tortilla Soup/Aztec Soup (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE



>

>
> Mr. Popik, who feels free to dispense genuine insults, has
> had difficulty=20 here distinguishing between (1)
> disagreement with his ideas, principles, and= =20 work, and
> (2) insults to him (and lack of "compassion" for the anguish
> that=20= his=20 work brings upon him). I have written on
> ADS-L many times that I welcome his= =20 tireless
> efforts--they are on the whole a genuine contribution to
> lexicograp= hy. I=20 think that it is splendid that his
> genuine contributions are recorded in the= =20 ADS-L
> archives. If I suggest that some of his postings err on the
> trivial=20 side, and if I find some of his gratuitous insults
> puerile, that certainly d= oes=20 not indicate for a moment
> that any sort of censorship--except=20 self-censorship--might
> be called for.=20
>
> And the last thing that I would want, believe me, is to be
> "king" of any=20 realm wherein it was my job to try to
> control Mr. Popik's communications to=20= the=20 outside
> world. Who could possibly control a New Yorker turned Texan?
>
>

I agree with much of what Ron Butters said above, and commend him for
trying to dial back the level of intensity that this thread has enjoyed.

I was the focus of some of Barry's rage last a couple weeks ago (see
"the Big
Onion", a thread I dropped when I realize that some things just
aren't productive).  I tried to make the point, without attacking Barry
personally, that just because no cites of "the Big Onion" had been found
that predated "the Big Apple", it is probably not wise to insist that
none
would be.  I had just antedated the phrase myself by 30 or so years with
20 mins
of research.  Barry seemed to think (and I don't want to put words in
his
mouth), however, that since no pre-Big Apple cite had ever been found,
none
would ever be found.  This seems odd, coming from someone who has found
so many
important antedatings, himself.  Barry knows as well as anyone that many
potentially
important texts aren't digitized, that existing databases have imperfect
OCR and
search engines, etc.

Barry, I offer the following in the most collegial sense possible.  I
enjoy
a good bit of the information you provide -- some of your specific
interests
overlap mine directly -- but you have a gift for posting it in ways that
put
people off.  Might I suggest:

1.  Stop bitching about the fact that nobody pays you to do this.  I
antedate
for fun, mostly during slow moments at work.  Some folks do it
professionally.
Bless their hearts for getting paid to do something they apparently
enjoy.  I
don't get paid, but I don't do it for money.

2.  Stop insulting the OED.  (Comments from you re: the most important
dictionary every compiled:  "We stink on food!" "Miserable on food",
"horrible
on food", "pathetic", "miserable on coffee", "miserable as usual", "just
awful
on food", etc., etc., etc.)  You've pointed out (correctly, I believe)
that the
language of food and the names of recipe items and dishes are on-topic
for the
ADS-L.  But regular complaints about the (perceived) shortcomings of the
OED
are not, I believe.  They have an email address:  oed3 at oup.com .  I've
found
them to be friendly people.  If you think that they could improve or add
an entry,
tell them directly.  As far as I can tell, only one or two posters to
the ADS-L are
in any position to influence the OED -- why complain to the whole list?

3.  Drop the suicide references ("I should kill myself", "remind me to
kill myself".)
Suicide isn't funny.  I presume you are being sarcastic (and sarcasm
doesn't work
nearly as well via email as it does face to face) -- I certainly hope
that you aren't
being serious.  I've known people who took their own lives.  It's no
laughing matter.

I hope these comments are taken in the spirit in which they are offered.
I welcome
Barry's continued participation and contributions to the ADS-L.  I'd
just like to
see him try to be a little less curmudgeonly on line.

Bill Mullins


Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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