AUTHORS' ANNEXE (English Language Discussions)

[Marian]

Possibly some of the lecturers too Jon!
Marian

[keithgood838]

Hi Marian and Jon.
Here is another attempt at clarifying confusing
adjectives, just now written:

'Yet still the unresting castles thresh.'
(from The Trees, by Philip Larkin)

Restive means obstinate,
an unwillingness to co-operate,
agitators for change resisting
the dictatorial will.

Restless betrays the troubled mind
of agitation, an inability to unwind,
not sleeping or relaxing,
never still.

Keith

[mariana44]

I have to admit that I do not remember coming acroos the word "restive" before.

[keithgood838]

Hi Marian(a)
If you were bored by the previous post,
this one will send you to sleep:

SERENITY

Untroubled and transparent,
the limpid stream babbles through the meadow
of a stressful life,
and for one languid moment
banishes the shadow
of overburdening strife.

Keith

Limpid, dictionary definition: calm, clear.
Languid: listless, limp, relaxed. (Confusion
makes mischief with this pair of adjectives
because limpid is better suited in languid's clothes.)

[keithgood838]

Hi Jon
The following extract was unknowingly 'conducted'
by the maestro of the Enfield Brass Band playing at
Barnet's shopping mall. It is offered here in recognition
of your linguistics/musical prowess:

COMPARING NOTES

Consider the correlation between the grammatical
parts of speech and the instruments of an orchestra.
Nouns may be identified with the keyboard, brass
and woodwind sections because they are the subjects,
the principal players in a sentence. All-action verbs equate
to the percussion section: they are the driving force,
the drumbeat of text. (Their active and passive voices
convey the non-grammatical mood of a choral work.)
Pronouns, required frequently to sit in for nouns,
play the part of accordion, horn, piccolo and kettledrum
inter alia as variants of their more illustrious counterparts.
Adjectives conform exquisitely to strings ornature at
a recital; their descriptive qualities create poetic imagery
and heap tender havoc on the gamut of emotion.
Punctuation, the monitor of interpretive structure,
is represented by the cymbals and triangles,
and its marks may be likened to the sharps, flats,
breves, naturals and quavers in a musical notation.
Adverbs are the support ensemble, the wordsmiths
whose know-how unobtrusively informs and sets
the tempo, power and duration of various passages.
Prepositions, conjunctions and determiners all play
continuity and linking roles and, crucially, they
hold the entire arrangement together harmoniously.

The components of a composition are assembled
by the author (noun) and moulded into a masterpiece
that is presented in pitch-perfect syntax
and ends in a crescendo of compelling climax

Keith

[jon]

Hi Keith

Thanks for your splendid analogy of grammar with the instruments of an orchestra.

You may be interested to hear about a new programme, called "Maestro", which starts tonight on BBC2 and which follows the efforts of well-known (non-musical) celebrities in their attempts to learn how to conduct an orchestra. Should be interesting, though it does look like another celebrity-reality programme in which the participants try to accomplish something for which they have no real talent.

[ROBERT M.]

I think I read that newsreader Katie Derham was one of the participants and she was wiggling her bottom to the music

[keithgood838]

Hi Jon
You will have noticed the extent to which writers generally fail to capitalise our planet:

FELLOW SCRIBES

I beg to bring to your attention
a matter of cosmic omission:
most of you fail to cap the Earth,
this abused planet of our birth.
Some blame attaches to the moon
and heaven for this discordant tune,
so let's resolve to sing new songs
with upper case where it belongs.

Keith

PS Despite my best endeavours I have been unable to find
an alternative construction to you humorous presentation
of compunction and compulsion. I wonder whether you will
give me permission to put it into verse form and include it
in my manuscript. In appreciation, I shall be glad
to include you on the acknowledgements page
in the 'event' of the manuscript being published.

[jon]

Fine by me, Keith. However, I can't help pointing out your typo in "...you humorous presentation...". Perhaps you were just trying to catch me out?

[keithgood838]

Many thanks, Jon. You are an exemplar of the phrase,
a scholar and a gentleman. I'm gratified to note that
you are keeping my deathless words under committed
scrutiny. You probably read the winning entries in an annual
contest in which readers of The Washington Post were asked
to supply alternative meaning for everyday words. Here
goes with just a few, anyway:

LINGUISTIC LIBERTINES

Abdicate, (verb) giving up hope of having a flat stomach

Balderdash, (noun) rapidly receding hairline

Coffee, (noun) the person on whom one coughs

Esplanade, (verb) to attempt an explanation while drunk

Flabbergasted, (adjective) shocked by having put on so much

weight

Gargoyle, (noun) olive-flavoured mouthwash

Lymph, (verb) to walk with a lisp

Pokeman, (noun) a Rastafarian proctologist

Testicle, (noun) a humorous exam question

Willy-nilly, (adjective) impotent

Keith

[keithgood838]

Hereunder another perplexing word-pair,
of whom one hopes matters will be made clear:

POWERS of PERSUASION

These bad-cop, good-cop verbs predicate force,
compel brings implications of coercion:
dark hints compelled him to co-operate.
But gentler impel embarks on a course
indicated by mild exhortation:
kindness impelled him to elucidate.

Keith

PS Please forum members, make me aware
of any word-pairings that cause confusion. I may
be able to add them to my collection.

[keithgood838]

A BBC reporter has caused consternation in literati ranks
by apparently converting the noun, medal, into a verb by
saying that an athlete had 'medalled' in an Olympics event.
One so-called purist even upbraided him for 'meddling'
with the language. Surprisingly, most dictionaries confirm
that medal may be used as a transitive verb: to decorate
with a medal, and even as a present participle, medalling,
and past participle, medalled. I suppose it simply underlines
the elasticity of our fascinating language.
Keith

[mariana44]

Re your previous post Keith, of words causng confusion---I always get confused with "stationary" and "stationery"--I know what they both mean, but I am never to sure which is which--is there an easy way to remember ?

[paul jh]

I will stand in a queue for many hours stationary
To purchase the new Matt Monro tome.
Then I will write a letter using my new stationery
With my review for everyone back home.

[mariana44]

Thanks Paul---that is brilliant--I am sure that I will remember which is which now.