Interest Amateur Self-Introduction

[James Dawson]

Hello friends at ADS-L,
 
I stumbled upon your society while looking up "flexitarian" on the Internet.  I have read the Wikipedia article about you and looked over and read much of your website.  I hope to study it more closely over the next few days, and eventually join ADS.
 
I'm very interested in philosophy and am an amateur essayist and self-publisher.  As such, I'm very interested in language AND semantics as tools of thought and expression as well as learning, teaching, and, on the darker side, deception and propaganda, especially by governments.  (I'm interested in "Orwellian" speech, and perhaps, non-verbal communication.)  So your society, its publications and forum sound very promising as a source of ideas and information.  
 
I've tried contacting individuals who wrote publications about this subject in the past, and even searching the Internet, but to no avail.  (My Internet skills are rudimentary, though I've been on-line for about 8 years.)  So discovering you is a great boon.
 
I would like to improve my grammar and usage, and learn the rules of "word coinage".
 
I am 51, and do not have a college degree.  Perhaps I would fall under your category of "dilettante" and "interested amateur".  I
 
I have a big list of language comments and questions and I hope to submit one now and then to all of you on this forum.
 
I've tried to read the instructions for joining and using this forum very carefully, but it's a bit more complicated than what I'm used to, so I hope I'm not making a mess of it.
 
Hope to communicate with you soon.
 
James N. Dawson 




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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org