High school English teacher, former editor, serial comma advocate
Mark Liberman over at Language Log published his thoughts on this quote, from Louis Aragon (translated from French):
I demand that my books be judged with utmost severity, by knowledgeable people who know the rules of grammar and logic, and who will seek beneath the footsteps of my commas the lice of my thought in the head of my style.
My friend Tim just sent this link around, with the comment: “Hands down, THE BEST breakdown of journalism vs. ‘new media’ I have ever read.” Go Dan Tynan! Plus, he gets points for using “pompous windbagging” as a tag.
Link: tynan wood » My Job and Welcome to It.
Also, this reminded me of when the Daily Show did an item on one of Obama’s early press conferences when the President called on Sam Stein from the Huffington Post. Stewart said, “Huffington Post? What? That guy’s probably just going to link to the New York Times reporter’s question?” (at about 5:55)
It’s fascinating to me how quickly the conservative movement grasped this concept: that if you control the words people use to discuss something, you have a leg up in gaining control of the conversation. Ultimately, it’s true. The better you can communicate (and the more communication tools you have at your disposal), the better you’ll be able to sway others.
Link: Seeking to Save the Planet, With a Thesaurus – NYTimes.com.
Economist Paul Kedrosky (the other Paul K.) weighed in today on which French verb form we should really be using “laisser faire” or “laissez-faire.” I agree with his logic, but adding that level of complexity goes against the “borrowed words” tradition. At what point does franglais (or Spanglish, etc.) become English? In common speech, the rules of the parent language are often quickly abandoned (see “datum”), but academics and other high-falutin’ folks tend to follow the rules of the parent language. What about publishing people, who fall somewhere in the middle, promoting good use of our language but not putting it on a pedestal?
I think I’m sticking with “lassez-faire.”
Style note: Merriam-Webster uses a hyphen in both noun and adjective forms of “laissez-faire.”