WORK
Captain Basil Hall, who was here in 1827 and 1828, and published his “Travels in North America” in 1829, was so upset by some of the novelties he encountered that he went to see Noah Webster, then seventy years old, to remonstrate. Webster upset him still further by arguing stoutly that “his countrymen had not only a right to adopt new words, but were obliged to modify the language to suit the novelty of the circumstances, geographical and political, in which they were placed.” The lexicographer went on to observe judicially that “it is quite impossible to stop the progress of language—it is like the course of the Mississippi, the motion of which, at times, is scarcely perceptible; yet even then it possesses a momentum quite irresistible. Words and expressions will be forced into use, in spite of all the exertions of all the writers in the world.”
“But surely,” persisted Hall, “such innovations are to be deprecated?”
“I don’t know that,” replied Webster. “If a word becomes universally current in America, where English is spoken, why should not take its station in the language?”
To this Hall made an honest British reply. “Because,” he said, “there are words enough already.”
—H.L. Mencken
—from The American Language
WORD(S)
immane /i-MAYN/. adjective. Inhumanly cruel, brutal. Vast in size and of immense strength. Prodigiously great. From Latin immānis (savage, brutal, vast); from early Latin mānis/mānus (good).
“The immane cruelty of Hieron, the Tyrant of that City.” (John Bulwer)
“That immane and nefandous Burke-and-Hare business which made the blood of civilization run cold…” (Oliver Wendell Holmes)
“The gull circled, calling into the pale blue sky where immane banks of cloud raced toward low mountains in the south…” (Kim Zupan)
“The immane approach of the stronger world to its weaker counterparts has to be countered with strong-arm methods.” (P. Kumar)
WEB
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@GuyInYourMFA “should be very recognizable to anyone who has ever taken a creative writing workshop or attended a coffee house poetry reading.”
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Two recent NPR stories on the resilience of paper and the power of notebooks/handwriting → In A Digital Chapter, Paper Notebooks Are As Relevant As Ever & Don’t Write Off Paper Just Yet
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(dawwwwww) → First photos of the extremely endangred Ili Pika in 20 years
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On some intriguing marginalia → Party of One
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Today is, it must be noted, Bloomsday, in which fans of James Joyce’s seminal (see what I did there?) novel Ulysses—set on June 16, 1904—celebrate the book and its author. Bloomsday attracts fans of all kinds, enthusiasts and academics and the usual gaggle of hangers-on who really do mean to read Ulysses some day, which doesn’t sit well with some people. I don’t know what to tell you: it’s a wonderful book and celebrating Bloomsday sure ►looks like fun in Dublin. Even more than most of Joyce’s work (that I’ve read; I can’t say much about Finnegans Wake, which eludes me still), hearing Ulysses is even better than reading it. The best version I know of is the Naxos AudioBooks edition (free if you test the Audible service, which I have no feelings about), a beautiful bit of which you can listen to yourself. Close behind is the free RTE Radio Ireland marathon reading from 1982.
WATCH/WITNESS
See all the photos in the Atlantic feature: “Zoo Animals Escape Amid Heavy Flooding in Tbilisi, Georgia”
REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES
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Reader N. breaks down bibliotherapy: "I was deeply disappointed in this article because it significantly neglects poetry. What could be more therapeutic than some of the sonnets written by the romantic poets? Or perhaps, more realistically, the nostalgia and cynicism of Philip Larkin can position a person’s depression in the zeitgeist. Reading Wordsworth’s THE PRELUDE might be the most helpful poetic cure for melancholy. ¶ Some people can begin with Mary Oliver, but why end there? I just googled poetry therapy and came up with this intriguing link. ¶ I know that I sound like a querulous pedant, but why should we toss out centuries of magnificent poetry for the latest YA pop pap?
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Reader B. twitches at a word that makes me itch too: “ ‘recency’: this has popped up in discussions of Twitter. I hate it, but there it is. ¶ Example: ’Any time you log in to Twitter, you see the most recent tweets from people you follow. This focus on recency makes Twitter indispensable for certain kinds of users.”
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