I like Dennis Hammet's tagline:
"ESCHEW OBFUSCATION"
Allan
> -----Original Message-----
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Dan/Sal Wheaton
>Subject: Re: [VFB] an�al�pha�bet�ic
>Steve wrote:
>Who knew that I would be introduced to an English term that I have
>never seen before and presumed that it was a misspelling, by a gent >from
>Sweden??
>Does that make me neoalphabetic?
>Steve Schalla
> Well, actually, it can't really be called an "English" term; it's a
>variation on one of those Renaissance "inkhorn" words imported into the
>language by one of them there academic types, usually with implications
>of pretentiousness (though the real motive is often simply playfulness,
>as here, by Soren). It did have legitimate roots in Greek ("not knowing
>one's ABC's") and had its transliterated Latin counterpart, but isn't
>recorded in (written) English until the 19th century. The OED properly
>identifies it as "obscure" and "rare." But who knows? Maybe now, thanks to
>the VFB group, it may, like, say, "antepenultimate," take on new life
>of its own as part of the living language. (Sure beats the overused
>"clueless.")
>I suggest, Steve, that since you're obviously already quite literate,
>any actual use of the word would make you, at worst, "neologistic."
>In case any of you have read even this far, I'll add only that Soren's
>spelling is interesting in its use of "th" (incorrectly reflecting the
>Greek theta rather than the original tau), which possibly suggests that
>he's, hmmm, overeducated? But my thanks to him for a new acquisition.
>And as Byard might say, "Keep playin'."
>DanW OK, what is next. Lessons on Nuance and Neologism in the
>literature of Middleton and James Joyce >??? Good stuff guys.
>This would impress the Literati over on FF@ !! ;-)
>
>Jerry Goldsmith
>Altamonte Springs, Fl
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Allan Fish
Greenwood, IN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
