A valedictory f.w.i.w.

[Laurence Horn]

Hi Tom,

I was thinking the unnamed offender might have
been me, based on the exchange we had on "venery"
(one source or two) back a year and a half ago or
so (and the fact that I fit the job description).
I was going to say that I had not intended any
petulance, nor engaged in vulgarity (I try to be
careful to avoid directing any vulgarity toward
others while feeling free to mention and analyze
it ad nauseam), but on closer examination of the
archives I've come to the conclusion that I may
not have been your target.  If I'm wrong in
absolving myself and I was your target, I
apologize; I certainly had to intention of
driving you away over a controversy on the
development of the PIE roots of desire.

Now, I'd have thought Mr. Aman was the one who
engaged in vituperation, ad hominem attacks, and
various other unmotivated calumnies, but he's not
a professor of lingusitics and as I recall didn't
direct any of his attacks on you, so he couldn't
have been the perpetrator of the final straw.

Larry



>A VALEDICTORY FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH
>
>   Some time back, lexicographer Larry Urdang
>signed off from ADS-L blaming Barry Popik for
>his frequent postings. I have had no problem
>with Barry’s postings. In fact, I have enjoyed
>many of them for the contributions he makes to
>our knowledge of language and lexicography. I
>have also enjoyed the postings of Jonathan
>Lighter, Wilson Gray, and other experts on slang
>and dialect especially because I was not raised
>in N. America. I landed here (in Boston
>actually) only at age 36.
>   What I have found irksome and what forces me
>to sign off from ADS-L (at age 81, I am living
>with one foot in the grave anyway) is someone
>(he shall remain nameless) dominating ADS-L with
>constant ill-informed and irrelevant comments as
>though this forum is a schoolyard where he
>reigns supreme as a sort of bully. That is a
>strong statement, but let me explain.
>
>   If I understand the purpose of ADS-L right, it
>is a forum for uninhibited informal comments on
>matters of interest to ADS. Such comments need
>not be in a form edited for publication in the
>media. But you don’t step into the forum in your
>birthday suit talking in your home language
>complete with vulgarities you learned in your
>early childhood education. Basic decorum seems
>called for. No one, I believe, should have the
>right to throw his weight around.
>
>   The straw that broke this camel’s back
>happened like this. Many months back, a
>professor of linguistics posted something with a
>serious error in it. As any student who knows
>his books might do in class, I offered a simple
>correction. The correction was acknowledged, but
>instead of accepting it with scholarly grace, he
>made a petulant remark that my comment was an
>unwelcome lexicographical intrusion or words to
>that effect. I tried to ignore it, but his buddy
>quickly came to the rescue telling me to stay
>off his backyard. I was taken aback.
>
>   I thought I would refer the matter to a jury
>of our peers (retired professors of English and
>linguistics) for an objective judgment. That is
>why I have waited this long for my valedictory.
>I now say goodbye satisfied and happy. I will
>continue to enjoy my life membership of ADS. In
>fact, I hope to present a paper at the Chicago
>annual meeting. Comments that any ADS-L member
>may have on the subject raised here may please
>be saved for Chicago or emailed directly to me.
>I won’t be checking in here again except when I
>have a particular research request.
>
>   Thanks Barry, Jonathan, Wilson, and others who
>have improved my knowledge of dialect and slang
>during these years I have been active on ADS-L.
>
>   Salaams.
>
>   THOMAS M. PAIKEDAY, Ph.D.
>   Lexicography, Inc.
>   Website: www.paikeday.net
>   Email: thomaspaikeday at yahoo.ca
>   Phone: 905-790-7076
>   Fax: 905-790-9168
>
>   P.S. When I became a lexicographer in 1964,
>one of the first things I did was to brush up on
>slang by reading Flexner's DAS from cover to
>cover. Now I browse Lighter's HDAS. I also use
>informants like my asst. Maranda (pictured on my
>website, opening page). Suggestion for Jonathan
>unless the point has already been noted:
>"flower," n. 2, seems current also in the
>singular. Here is a quotable citation: I asked
>my informant how she'd use the word. Response:
>"I tell my little girl, Don't ever let anyone
>touch your flower." Lovely, uh?
>
>
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