usage ridicule

[Laurence Horn]

On Apr 1, 2012, at 9:22 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:

> For my bedtime reading recently I turned to "Tremenda: The Dreadful
> Sound with Which the Wicked are to be Thunderstruck", a sermon
> delivered by Cotton Mather on May 25, 1721, on the occasion of the
> execution of Joseph Hanno, an "African".  I came across:
>
> "There are many Woes which the word of GOD threatens unto the Spirits
> of the wicked, in a Blind Heart, an Hard Heart, an Heart forsaken of
> GOD."  [p. 13]
>
> I assume Mather spoke this sermon (perhaps using a
> previously-prepared draft), then wrote (or edited) it for the
> publisher.  So, unless his printer made changes (and it was a civil
> crime in the Province of Massachusetts Bay to disrespect -- or
> ridicule -- a minister), I wonder how Mather pronounced these words.
>
> Joel

Ah, this explains the origin of the name for those self-service franchise restaurants some of you may recall, co-founded by an ancestor (unless it was a descendant) of mine, giving rise to the chain known originally as "Horn an Hard Heart Automats".  Very wicked indeed when they snatched your nickels.

(And happy April Fools' Day, everyone.)

LH

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