Language Craven: A Definition

[Robert Hartwell Fiske]

On August 23, 2007, The Wall Street Journal published  "_What Did U $@y? 
Online Language Finds Its Voice_ 
(http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118679550023894850-xt5WSx6ZMcHI7scakd1IlV87IuU_20070922.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top)
 ," an article in  which I was quoted. 
Soon afterward, lexicographer Grant Barrett — whose specialty is slang and  
"new usages" (though he was interviewed for the WSJ piece, his words were 
not  used) — wrote, rather bitterly, on his blog:  
"Robert Hartwell Fiske isn't a linguist. He's a self-involved curmudgeon —  
that's not a compliment, but a criticism of his intellectual limitations — 
who  is the go-to guy for the same kind of dismissive claptrap you'll hear 
from  anybody who's speaking on language outside their area of expertise."  
In response to this, I commented, also on Barrett's blog: 
_http://www.vocabula.com/2010/VRJUNE10Fiske.asp_ 
(http://www.vocabula.com/2010/VRJUNE10Fiske.asp) 
 
 
Robert Hartwell Fiske 
Editor  and Publisher
The Vocabula  Review
_www.vocabula.com_ (http://www.vocabula.com/) 

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