Jesse, spread all over the Times

[Jesse Sheidlower]

I thought that they might cut that line. Instead, it's been interesting
to note that all the lexicographers (and related folk) have cracked up
laughing or have shaken their heads in understanding, and all the
civilians haven't even noticed the line is there.

Also, there's a real difference between OCD and OCPD, which is what
Kendall ascribes to Webster, and what I think is familiar to many of us.

Jesse

On Wed, Jun 01, 2011 at 10:53:12AM -0400, Baker, John wrote:
>         Some interesting comments, quite relevant to this list, from the
> review of the Webster biography:
>
> Kendall marshals a wide range of evidence to argue that Webster suffered
> from what we now call obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, from
> Webster's own diaries (where Webster regularly mentioned his "extreme
> depression," "anxiety" and "nervous affections") to the monomaniacal
> attention he paid to subjects that he found engaging (he would count the
> number of houses in each city he visited in his travels). While such
> after-the-fact diagnoses may seem overly influenced by modern
> perspectives, Webster's personality traits are entirely familiar to
> anyone acquainted with an actual lexicographer. . . . The skills
> required to do this kind of linguistic work have their costs.
>
>
>         I'm no lexicographer, but my wife sometimes tells me that I have
> OCD.  I tell her that I'm missing the "disorder" component.
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of Laurence Horn
> Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 10:27 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Jesse, spread all over the Times
>
> First, this excellent review of a biography of Noah Webster from
> Sunday's Book Review:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/books/review/book-review-the-forgotten
> -founding-father-noah-websters-obsession-and-the-creation-of-an-american
> -culture-by-joshua-kendall.html
>
> and then three days later, a piece--
> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/books/john-donohue-taps-male-cooks-in-
> man-with-a-pan-book-review.html
> --on a new book (_MAN WITH A PAN: Culinary Adventures of Fathers Who
> Cook for Their Families_, by John Donoghue) that features an essay by
> Jesse along with others by (almost) equally prominent SNAGs
> ("Sensitive New Age Gluttons") like Stephen King and Mario Batali.
> It fills us in on recent developments in Jesse's love life and
> culinary adventures, including his attempts to deal with with the
> dread "sexually transmitted eating disorder".  (Sounds like fun.)
>
> LH
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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