fun with phrases
Dan Goncharoff
thegonch at GMAIL.COM
Sun Sep 18 23:39:05 UTC 2011
I think Alger considered education and experience to be important
parts of the process of self-improvement that we might now call
reinvention.
I also believe that the transformation from European peasant to
American citizen was a kind of redefinition, in that one's role
changed simply because one made the journey, and not because of any
self-improvement.
In neither case is success guaranteed. Alger admitted as much in his stories.
DanG
On Sun, Sep 18, 2011 at 6:47 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: fun with phrases
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Believe it or not, Alger's heroes all seem to succeed through the
> intervention of rich zillionaires who recognize their worth, rather than
> through "recreating/redefining/re-inventing" themselves or even solely
> through hard work.
>
> Anyway, it's one thing to "succeed": you're still you, just richer.
>
> When you "redefine," though, the emphasis seems to be that other people will
> see you in a better light, but overall success might still elude you. When
> you "re-invent," you *are* different, but once again, success isn't
> guaranteed. (You may have to re-invent yourself several times.) These
> nuances seem have been nearly unknown until recently.
>
> Maybe they're distinctions without a difference, but they intrigue me.
>
>
> JL
>
> On Sun, Sep 18, 2011 at 6:31 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster: Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject: Re: fun with phrases
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> What about the popularity of 'self-instructors" in the 19th century?
>> Both the Horatio Alger stories and the overall immigrant experience
>> are about the idea of self-reinvention, even if the phrase is not
>> used. Instead, people were said to be "self-made".
>>
>> DanG
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Sep 18, 2011 at 1:17 PM, Jonathan Lighter
>> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> > Subject: Re: fun with phrases
>> >
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > The concepts are similar, but "recreating yourself" in 1912 was not an
>> idea
>> > commonly mentioned in print as "redefining" and "reinventing" yourself
>> > became many decades later - to the point, in fact, of becoming cliche's.
>> >
>> > Here's another:
>> >
>> > 1st CNN anchor: How are you doin' today?
>> > 2nd CNN anchor [humorously]: Just livin' the dream here in Atlanta,
>> Georgia.
>> >
>> > To "live the dream": to be ecstatically happy with one's social,
>> financial
>> > or professional success or general existence.
>> >
>> > This is pretty new too, but well known. The defining characteristic is
>> the
>> > lack of previous specification of what the "dream" might be. In the
>> cliche',
>> > everybody knows it's very broad indeed and closely connected with social
>> and
>> > financial contentment.
>> >
>> > Searches are difficult, but it looks like the free-floating,
>> > non-contextually specified phrase doesn't turn up till the late '60s and
>> > doesn't become common for five or ten more years. (There is at least one
>> > '50s ex., but the nature of the "dream" - a missionary's - was first
>> > specified.)
>> >
>> > What's it prove? Don't know. Who cares? Don't know that either. Does it
>> > "provide a linguistic index to American culture," as popular books on
>> > language used to say? What's *that* mean?
>> >
>> > JL
>> >
>> > On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 8:39 PM, Garson O'Toole
>> > <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:
>> >
>> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> >> -----------------------
>> >> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> >> Poster: Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>> >> Subject: Re: fun with phrases
>> >>
>> >>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >>
>> >> Here is some "psychobabble" in 1912 that includes the phrase "create
>> >> yourself anew", and discusses the theme of remaking yourself
>> >> psychologically in a chapter called "The Subconscious".
>> >>
>> >> Cite: 1912, Human Efficiency: A Psychological Study of Modern Problems
>> >> by Horatio W. Dresser, Chapter 5: The Subconscious, Page 123, G. P.
>> >> Putnam's Sons, New York. (Google Books full view)
>> >>
>> >> <Begin short exert>
>> >> You wish to create yourself anew in wiser fashion so that the ideals
>> >> of to-day shall constitute the habitual self of to-morrow. Thus you
>> >> endeavour to outwit your own consciousness by giving your activity
>> >> more resolutely to the ideal, refusing to own these miserable moods
>> >> and emotions through which you betray fear, anger, jealousy,
>> >> resentment, and the like.
>> >> <End excerpt>
>> >>
>> >> More can be read by following this link:
>> >>
>> >>
>> http://books.google.com/books?id=DLUZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22create+yourself%22#v=snippet&
>> >>
>> >> Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> >> > Subject: Re: fun with phrases
>> >> >
>> >>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >> >
>> >> >> Or are you suggesting that the application to "self" is
>> >> > something that's never been used before?
>> >> >
>> >> > My tentative answer is yes. The essential attitudes behind these
>> phrases
>> >> may
>> >> > be ancient, even as applied to people (though I'm not sure of that),
>> but
>> >> if
>> >> > so their reduction to simple, easily recalled, and frequently uttered
>> >> > cliche's really does seem new.
>> >> >
>> >> > Think about it: "redefine yourself" - what exactly does that mean?
>> >> Overhaul
>> >> > much of your personality for some psychological or social benefit?
>> That
>> >> > seems like a late 20th C. idea to me. Did pre-Freudian generations
>> even
>> >> > consider that one could do that, even if one wanted to? And why would
>> you
>> >> > want to? If you simply switched jobs, for ex., you were still defined
>> as
>> >> > you. Nowadays, maybe not. "Redefine" also seems to suggest the
>> effective
>> >> > power of pure image-making - surely a (?mid-)20th C. notion.
>> >> >
>> >> > "Reinvent" is similar but suggests getting completely outside yourself
>> to
>> >> do
>> >> > it. The word once had somewhat negative associations, since people
>> were
>> >> > sometimes warned "You don't need to reinvent the wheel."
>> >> >
>> >> > "Don't let the past determine your future": less radical, but again
>> >> reduced
>> >> > by centuries of philosophical and psychological thought into handy,
>> >> > apothegmatic form. It also suggests the possibility - in fact the
>> >> likelihood
>> >> > - that one can make a huge change in one's life despite past
>> influences.
>> >> It
>> >> > seems to presuppose, however, that one is at the mercy of the past
>> right
>> >> up
>> >> > until one chooses to fight back. I believe the accepted pre-Freudian
>> >> idea
>> >> > was that free will and will power made nonsense of any personal
>> >> historical
>> >> > determinism.
>> >> >
>> >> > (Personal biological determinism, however, - like being born into "bad
>> >> > family" - was believed to be a very real force that might be
>> conquered,
>> >> only
>> >> > rarely, through extraordinary will power. Lincoln was derided as a
>> >> "gorilla"
>> >> > because he came from the far frontier, looked strange, and had a
>> socially
>> >> > disapproved accent - which, to the elite, implied stupidity: his rise
>> >> "from
>> >> > log cabin to White House" seemed astonishing. Something similar had
>> been
>> >> > true of Robert Burns, from rural Scotland.)
>> >> >
>> >> > Anyway, it's the conciseness and clarity of the recent phrases, and
>> the
>> >> now
>> >> > blandly familiar assumptions that allow their everyday expression,
>> that I
>> >> > find striking. Maybe I should join another list.
>> >> >
>> >> > JL
>> >> >
>> >> > On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 1:49 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: fun with phrases
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Not to mention the fact the the slogan of the 2008 presidential
>> campaign
>> >> >> was
>> >> >> "Change", which is, in part, the same metaphor.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Of course, there were a few similar ones along the way:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> "This is not your [grand]father's Oldsmobile"
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Still, I am compelled to ask: Is it really new or just a
>> >> transmogrification
>> >> >> of some other cliche from 1932? (or even 1832?)
>> >> >>
>> >> >> There have always been two opposite direction for any
>> "progress"--expand
>> >> on
>> >> >> your predecessor vs. start anew. This is just conservatism vs. the
>> >> >> revolutionary. Or are you suggesting that the application to "self"
>> is
>> >> >> something that's never been used before?
>> >> >>
>> >> >> VS-)
>> >> >>
>> >> >> On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 12:12 PM, Jonathan Lighter
>> >> >> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Within minutes of each other I've encountered three fairly "recent"
>> >> >> cliches
>> >> >> > that got me to wondering. All three are now frequently heard (at
>> >> least
>> >> >> in
>> >> >> > my world), but there was a time - in my own lifetime - when they
>> never
>> >> >> > were.
>> >> >> > In theory, anybody since the rollout of EModE around 1600 could
>> have
>> >> >> > uttered
>> >> >> > these words spontaneously, but if they did no one was paying much
>> >> >> > attention.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > So I did a quick GB search.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > FWIW:
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > "redefine yourself": 1966, but not common for a decade.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > "reinvent yourself": 1969, but ditto.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > "Don't let the past determine your future" : 2000.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > "So what?" you say. "These things merely reflect the self-help
>> crazes
>> >> of
>> >> >> > the
>> >> >> > age."
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Precisely. Nobody was thinking these things in 1932 and now a
>> hundred
>> >> >> > million people are. That suggests a significant cultural change
>> >> >> > encapsulated
>> >> >> > in just a handful of words.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Stay tuned.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > JL
>> >> >>
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>> >> >>
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>> >> truth."
>> >> >
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>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>> truth."
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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