Hi Gilbert Apologies for being well behind in responding to hundreds of posts over several weeks but herewith a quick reply to make a few observations re your post. I hope you have not injured yourself falling off your chair, yet again! I also hope that you do not mind the numbering below for reasons of brevity:
1. I am not a professor of English at any institution. 2. Agreed that, (just like you), I am unlikely to change my language style nor my mind-set. Is there such a need and is this normal for middle-aged men? You surely must be joking! 3. My writing style has nothing to do with "a Shakespearean bent", "colonial mindset", being a "language snob" or "aristocratic squire". It is a style that the UK intelligentsia use in universities, and the quality press eg Times, Telegraph, Guardian, Independent and Sunday Observer, and in normal articulation with educated and professional people. It uses what Prof. Bernstein described as "the elaborated code" as opposed to the "restricted code" used by those who have a reading age of 10 and tend to confine their reading to tabloids like the Daily Mail, Sun etc. 4. Indeed, clearly as a contrarian (sorry biggish word!) you were not too long ago, all praise for my language--often erroneously describing it as the Queen's English. So praiseworthy were you that you requested me to review your publication 'On Thin Ice' after which you claimed that my review was the best review you had received and that it had indeed enhanced your book. Perhaps you have forgotten about all this in your haste to rush a post but I'd like to remind you that consistency in word and thought is an important consideration to bear in mind. 5. When the reading age is as low as 10, as indicated above, simple words are used but as the reading age goes higher, invariably, more complex and sophisticated terminology is the norm. Indeed, all professionals use an elaborated and also technical code including doctors, lawyers, academics, engineers and others. Also, a good yardstick might be to compare and contrast language use in novels from those fairly simplistic popular ones to pretty sophisticated and complex presentations for intelligent readers. In this sense, D. Oppenheimer's views are pretty redundant despite your enthusiasm for them--particularly with reference to your language needs in your professional repertoire. Ironically, his psychology texts are incredibly dense linguistically but the views you quote from him and as intended for American university students, suffice for magazines like the Readers Digest that caters for a 'middle of the road' readership rather than say the Economist. You may however, recall that, I had suggested you send your 'On Thin Ice' to the Readers Digest with the hope it might be reviewed there but I don't recall if you had tried to do so and had any luck. Regards Cornel --- On Sun, 28/9/08, Gilbert Lawrence <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Gilbert Lawrence <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > ... I fell off the chair reading the post > of Augusto Pinto (I believe Professor of English in > Goa) replying to Cornel DaCosta... > Cornel's perennial problem was displayed in his latest > post, which follows his past patterns. Likely, Cornel is > not likely to change his writing style or his mindset...
