RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
Esolen, Anthony. Angels, Barbarians, and Nincompoops: And other Words You Thought you Knew. Gastonia, NC: Tan Books, 2017.
Interacting with a word’s etymology is always dangerous in determining its meaning. Though it might appear that is what Anthony Esolen is doing, it is not. He is inviting us to enter the very shape of language. As he notes at the end of the book, paraphrasing Lewis and Tolkien, the study of words is the study of man.
Interesting notes:
“In English we don’t usually hear the difference between a single consonant and a double consonant.”
He makes a good point that “catholic” doesn’t mean universal. It means according to the whole. There is another word for “universal,” and it is “ecumenical.”
“All of our kn- words were cn- words in Anglo-Saxon, and were pronounced as such, as late as Chaucer.”
It’s okay to start a sentence with “because,” and not simply because (sorry) you will follow the subordinate clause with an independent clause. Rather, you can start a sentence with “because” if you are using that to build towards a climax.
In bible translations, don’t say “produce” when you could say “fruit.” Produce is an abstraction and robs the passage of linguistic force. Fruit suggests something fresh from God’s hand. Produce connotes Gross National Product.
In Milton conscience is “my conscience;” it is not a neutral umpire. It is important, nonetheless.
Say “eternal life” rather than “afterlife,” since the latter connotes aftertaste or afterthought.
The best way to develop style is not by using big words but by arranging ordinary words.
Dactyl: a pterodactyl is a “feather-finger.” However, in poetry a dactyl, reminiscent of the division of your finger, is long-short-short.
Humor
“Beside the word ‘nescient’ in Dr E’s Imaginary Dictionary stands an illustration of a bureaucrat, smiling at an ordinary citizen. The cross-reference reads: see ‘expert.’ The word means what you think it means: the property of knowing absolutely nothing.”
Esolen wrote this before the rise of the Branch Covidians.
A note on “boycott:” the word was tried in Italian novels in the 20th century. Small merchants united against their enemy, a man who was ahead of them in technology and thrift. “They being Italians, it didn’t quite work, but it did help to bring about political confusion, which is often better than political efficiency, because it means that politicians who mean mischief don’t get much done.”
He has an insightful entry on “patriarchy.” It did not originally mean “Ungus grunt and make woman cook.” It was father-as-arche, foundation. As Esolen notes, “A patriarch is not a male boss, nor even a father-boss. He is the father-founder.” Anything else moves quickly to idolatry and blood covenants.
Temperance is not tee-totaling. It is the virtue of judicious measure.
On hell: the cardinal sins are deadly, not because God simply judges them, but by their very nature they make us people who would rather writhe in agony than worship God.
While its use is somewhat limited due to the etymological angle of the book, this is a delight for those gourmands of language.
Interacting with a word’s etymology is always dangerous in determining its meaning. Though it might appear that is what Anthony Esolen is doing, it is not. He is inviting us to enter the very shape of language. As he notes at the end of the book, paraphrasing Lewis and Tolkien, the study of words is the study of man.
Interesting notes:
“In English we don’t usually hear the difference between a single consonant and a double consonant.”
He makes a good point that “catholic” doesn’t mean universal. It means according to the whole. There is another word for “universal,” and it is “ecumenical.”
“All of our kn- words were cn- words in Anglo-Saxon, and were pronounced as such, as late as Chaucer.”
It’s okay to start a sentence with “because,” and not simply because (sorry) you will follow the subordinate clause with an independent clause. Rather, you can start a sentence with “because” if you are using that to build towards a climax.
In bible translations, don’t say “produce” when you could say “fruit.” Produce is an abstraction and robs the passage of linguistic force. Fruit suggests something fresh from God’s hand. Produce connotes Gross National Product.
In Milton conscience is “my conscience;” it is not a neutral umpire. It is important, nonetheless.
Say “eternal life” rather than “afterlife,” since the latter connotes aftertaste or afterthought.
The best way to develop style is not by using big words but by arranging ordinary words.
Dactyl: a pterodactyl is a “feather-finger.” However, in poetry a dactyl, reminiscent of the division of your finger, is long-short-short.
Humor
“Beside the word ‘nescient’ in Dr E’s Imaginary Dictionary stands an illustration of a bureaucrat, smiling at an ordinary citizen. The cross-reference reads: see ‘expert.’ The word means what you think it means: the property of knowing absolutely nothing.”
Esolen wrote this before the rise of the Branch Covidians.
A note on “boycott:” the word was tried in Italian novels in the 20th century. Small merchants united against their enemy, a man who was ahead of them in technology and thrift. “They being Italians, it didn’t quite work, but it did help to bring about political confusion, which is often better than political efficiency, because it means that politicians who mean mischief don’t get much done.”
He has an insightful entry on “patriarchy.” It did not originally mean “Ungus grunt and make woman cook.” It was father-as-arche, foundation. As Esolen notes, “A patriarch is not a male boss, nor even a father-boss. He is the father-founder.” Anything else moves quickly to idolatry and blood covenants.
Temperance is not tee-totaling. It is the virtue of judicious measure.
On hell: the cardinal sins are deadly, not because God simply judges them, but by their very nature they make us people who would rather writhe in agony than worship God.
While its use is somewhat limited due to the etymological angle of the book, this is a delight for those gourmands of language.
