Re: [tied] Lick me (was: the tongue)

From: Ben McGarr
Message: 17269
Date: 2002-12-22

"Glen Gordon" <glengordon01@...> wrote:
> Well that message seemed coherent enough at least. Perhaps by being
more
> bitchy, we can knock some verbal sense into Alex :) But seriously,
next
> time, try to use a verb in EVERY sentence because there are times
when
> I, and I'm sure others, don't know what on earth you are saying
like the
> sentence I quoted in the last post.

Dear Glen,

I for one always understand Alex [in terms of his English if not some
of his more obscure Palaeobalkan musings], and feel bound to speak up
in his support here. He makes spelling mistakes, has the occasional
problem with syntax, and is sometimes a touch eccentric in his choice
of words [but this provides us all with an excellent window into the
structure of Rumanian]. However, I think you were unnecessarily
rude, Glen, and I commend Alex for his measured response. I would
love to see Glen write all his messages in Rumanian...

May I add also, that there are certain special reasons for a degree
of forebearance in this case. For most of this century, even to some
extent after the fall of Ceaucescu, Rumania has been a closed and
isolated country, and has been and still is rife with official
propaganda concerning its people's 'glorious Dacian and Roman
ancestors'. Not only has this resulted in the intellectual
blinkering of the Rumanins themselves, but also has grave
consequences for the other nations in this land, most notably the
remaining Magyars and Szekely. Only through the gradual opening up
of Rumania's scholarly [and lay] community, can things change for the
better. Alex has come here of his own will, to avail himself of the
dispassionate criticism the scholars here can afford, and this is to
all our benefit. Why wonder that Alex's most pressing concern here
is to examine the Rumanian language, when all work on it for most of
the history of Rumanian academia has been of such a romantic nature?

Ben McGarr