Mark Twain's profanity

Mon Mar 21 00:31:22 UTC 2011

On Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:29:07 Zone minus 0300  (Daylight Savings Maritimes?)
"David A. Daniel" <dad at POKERWIZ.COM> wrote:

<q>I meant to mention this earlier, then forgot... Though not profanity per se,
anyone who wants to know, in detail, of Twain's irreverence regarding
religion, sex and the human condition need only read Letters from the Earth.
Here is one link, but there are others. </q>

To which my friend who is writng the Twain-Eddy play had this to say:

<q> But I'm frightened to read Mark Twain alone. The Devil's in the details.</q>

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Other quickie comments:

Subject: Re: Patton's "dumb bastard"

Doesn't anyone realize that Patton was objecting to Nathan Hale's famous gallows quotation "I only have one life to give for my country" (which in turn was cribbed from Addison and Steele or else from Horace "dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.")

A macabre factoid about Hale: his hangman was named "Montresor".

A macabre factoid about the Horace quote:  it is the epitaph on the gravestone of "Major William Martin" aka "The Man Who Never Was", a dead body that was planted on the Germans with fake documents that successfully deluded the Germans into believing the next Allied invasion would be into Sardinia and Greece rather than Sicily.  Martin has recently been revealed to have been a man named Glyndwr Michael who died in England from rat poison, possibly as a suicide.

Nathan Hale is such a national hero that a nuclear submarine was named after him; still he was an incompetent bumbler whose death served no purpose (his mission was to get back to General Washington with the data he had collected).  Following Hale's fiasco, Washington and his G-2 Major Talmadge set up a for-real spy operation ("the Townsend Ring") which among other things spotted Major Andre's preparations for meeting Benedict Arnold.

http://books.google.com/books?id=JBDgi7itj0cC&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:patton+intitle:papers&hl=en&ei=iI2GTeiuOJTpgAf_6qG9CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=die%20for%20his%20country&f=false

George Smith Patton [sic, should be "Jr."] and Martin Blumenson _The Patton Papers_
Google Books gives this snippet from page 427

<q> Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice [Patton's wife], March 24, 1944
     I have just finished "inspiring" them... I reassured them asto [sic] their futures.  I told them that I was just as much their father and as deeply concerned for their welfare as Courtney [Hodges] had been.
     All my life I have abhored speach [sic] makers and now I seem fated to make them all the time.  I hope I don't get the bug and rant and orate...
     Things are shaping up pretty well now but I wish we had more of the killer instinct in our men.  They are too willing to die, but not anxious to kill.
     I tell them that it is fine to be willing to die for their country but a damned sight better to make the German die for his.  No one has ever told them that...
     The B[ritish] have suffered and are mad, but our men are not...
     Roman Civilization fell due to the loss of the will to conquer, satisfaction with the status quo, and high taxes which destroyed trade and private enterprise, and eventually forced people out of the cities.
     The cycle is returning...
     I love you and your letters.</q>

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton) quotes Patton addressing a group of "Negro tankers":

<q> I would never have asked for you if you weren't good.  I have nothing but the best in my Army.  I don't care what color you are as long as you go up there and kill those Kraut sons of bitches.  </q>

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On Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:50:18 -0400 Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
wrote:

"Grower" is fairly generic and "grape grower" or "wine grower" certainly
helps to clarify it. <parsnip>      VS-)"

"Grape grower" I have no trouble with, but I cannot quite figure out how one can be a "wine grower".

     - Jim Landau
On 3/6/2011 3:56 PM, Garson O'Toole wrote:
> Guy Letourneau wrote
>> Okay, you guys might know this one.
>>
>> Farm ->  farmer
>> Ranch ->  rancher
>> Vineyard ->  vintner? (well, not really; 'vintner' is closer in usage to
>> winemaker or wine merchant than the muddy-boot guy one who tends to
>> grape vines and their fruit.)
> These two words might work:
>
> vineyardist
> One who owns or manages a vineyard.
> http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/vineyardist
>
> vinedresser
> One that cultivates and prunes grapevines.
> http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/?s=vinedresser
>
> Another possibility: winegrower
> ...

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Date:    Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:54:49 -0400
From:    Andrew Thompson <am.pm.thompson at GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Need a word!

I second that. I'm new here, so I'm not sure how to go about citing
evidence, but here's an article that makes prominent use of the word:
http://www.arthurmag.com/2009/01/16/honest-work-life-on-a-humboldt-cannabis-farm-during-harvest-season/

On Sat, Mar 19, 2011 at 7:50 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Need a word!
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I suggested "grower" previously and I stand by it. Here's the latest:
>
> http://goo.gl/vAFd2
> WSJ,  ON WINE [column], MARCH 19, 2011
> The Most Powerful _Grower_ in Napa , by Lettie Teague
> > According to Napa _grape_grower_ Andy Beckstoffer, the time of
> > legendary men may be over. "The vineyards are the next Robert Mondavi.
> > The vineyards are what matters," he said.
> > ...
> > Unlike many _growers_, Mr. Beckstoffer only sells grapes to other
> > wineries; he doesn't make wine himself. "That's an entirely different
> > business," he said. It simplifies matters and reduces expenses and
> > also answers the inevitable question about _growers_ who also make
> > wine from their grapes: Don't they keep the best fruit for themselves?
>
> "Grower" is fairly generic and "grape grower" or "wine grower" certainly
> helps to clarify it. But, most of the time, when talking about wine and
> vineyards, just "grower" is what's used.
>
>     VS-)
>
>
> On 3/6/2011 3:56 PM, Garson O'Toole wrote:
> > Guy Letourneau wrote
> >> Okay, you guys might know this one.
> >>
> >> Farm ->  farmer
> >> Ranch ->  rancher
> >> Vineyard ->  vintner? (well, not really; 'vintner' is closer in usage to
> >> winemaker or wine merchant than the muddy-boot guy one who tends to
> >> grape vines and their fruit.)
> > These two words might work:
> >
> > vineyardist
> > One who owns or manages a vineyard.
> > http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/vineyardist
> >
> > vinedresser
> > One that cultivates and prunes grapevines.
> > http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/?s=vinedresser
> >
> > Another possibility: winegrower
> > ...
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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Date:    Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:53:22 -0400
From:    Ann Burlingham <ann at BURLINGHAMBOOKS.COM>
Subject: Re: Need a word!

On Sun, Mar 6, 2011 at 3:53 PM, William Palmer <palmerwil at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       William Palmer <palmerwil at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Need a word!
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> This was the line of work of my mother's foster father.  He called himslef
> an "orchardist".

I read a certain amount of gardening writing and catalogs, and
"orchardist" came easily to mind.

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Date:    Sun, 20 Mar 2011 11:01:40 +0800
From:    Randy Alexander <strangeguitars at GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Postpositive e.g.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristin-m-swenson-phd/five-things-everyone-shou_b_835721.html

----------------

1. Every Bible is actually a collection of books. .... This helps to explain
the tremendous variety of theological perspectives, literary style, and
sometimes perplexing preoccupations (which animal parts go to which parties
in which categories of sacrifices, e.g.), as well as why some texts disagree
with others.

----------------

Has anyone seen this usage before?

--
Randy Alexander
Xiamen, China
Blogs:
Manchu studies: http://www.sinoglot.com/manchu
Chinese characters: http://www.sinoglot.com/yuwen
Language in China (group blog): http://www.sinoglot.com/blog

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End of ADS-L Digest - 18 Mar 2011 to 19 Mar 2011 (#2011-79)
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