Re: The handsomeness of Modern English

From: Glen Gordon
Message: 1545
Date: 2000-02-17

Ai, mon dieu! Now Sabine, please, du calme. On en discute...

>I have deleted it - after being amazed that by including yourself in >the
>group of 'true linguists' (which I certainly don't belong to!) >who can't
>be upset by language you seem to make it your right to >abuse language

There is certainly no abuse of language. Perhaps abuse of interpretation or
abuse of opinion. Was it Kierkegaard (or was it Ochkkkim?) who had once
ejaculated, "To each his own"? Of course, whoever said this was abusing the
masculine 3rd person and quite sexist. So were the people who wrote the Old
Testament (if we ignore that Semitic languages only have masculine and
feminine anyway).

In fact, lawyers abuse language everyday making documents unreadable for the
average layman. Or priests who speak Latin to "confound" the masses into
mystical worship. One can go crazy identifying "abuses" of language as one
sees them but each person will have their own opinion. Man denkt was man
denkt.

Perhaps it's best and less confrontational to have a little philia for the
other of differing view. Sabine, please learn to love me, don't delete me...
I don't delete _you_, even when you're irrational at times like these :)

>Furthermore you confound 'the gruesomeness of modern English' in >general
>with your bad taste

Is this an attempt at insult? It's pointless and not working. You see
Sabine... (fade to black, beginning of long nostalgic biographical tale)...
I gave up trying to please the world a long time ago during my "coming out"
years. I learned early that conforming to "normal" is hopeless since there
are as many definitions of normal as there are people in the world. In my
youth (like 8 years ago :), I was contending with society's view of sexual
norms as well as the religious norms at home, together with the norms in
high school. I found myself failing each one, leading to low self-esteem and
thoughts of suicide (ouch!). Then I gave up and I feel a hundred times
better because I'm not carrying the weight of other people's expectations on
my shoulders, only my own which is weight enough.

Perhaps you are confusing the imposition of your opinion with facts. It is a
fact that my taste is a matter of opinion. Let's leave it at that.

>Until now I still believed that you are well aware of the difference >of
>the language you (ab-)use and the subjects you talk about - but >may be you
>aren't, after all.

Well, don't keep jibbering about (ab/mis/dis)use - define it, if you can,
and you'll see that it's best to let live.

>And as for the comparison with the professional doctor: being >married to
>one and knowing others I can assure you they would be >rightfully disgusted
>with the aspect of an abused naked body - not a >diseased one. So unless
>you are prepared to belong to the second >category, I'll stick to my
>opinion. Is that food for thought for you?

I'm still somewhat hungry. I can't live on crackers and cheese, you know. I
tend to need a large amount of food to sustain me because of my quick
metabolism :) At any rate, this metaphorical naked body belongs to each and
every one of us. As such we all have the right to do whatever we damn well
please with our own bodies - I'm going to have mine pierced! It's immature
to expect everyone to have the same values as you.

If you've read this far, Sabine, then it would appear that your deletion
regimen has failed. :( Is it possible that you hesitate to delete my email
just in case there is a slight stain of wisdom hidden in these words?

gLeN oUt,
pEaCe yO'lL


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