The Write Way

24 May 2002

What's in a name?

Greetings,

If you've spent the past week in a state of agitation, worrying whether Lavinia's vigil by the phone was all in vain, fear not, dear reader. It rang! She went!

Reginald Smythe-Ffaulkes (or is it Ffaulkes-Smythe? I always get mixed up with these highfalutin hyphenated names) invited her to his fancy dress party and I'm happy to report that she was the belle of the Ball. Onya Vinnie!

I'm not surprised that she was so anxious to be invited, after all, it was THE social occasion of the year - everyone who was anyone was there. I have it on good authority that our dear girl was rubbing shoulders with the likes of Sir Prize,  Sir Eptitious, Sir Tinly,  Sir Loin,  Sir Cuitous,  Sir Plus and Sir Cull, and that she far outshone Miss Information, Miss Understanding, Miss Demeanor, Miss Take, Miss Place, Miss Direction, Miss Conception and that vague Miss Givings.

From what I hear, Lavinia exchanged heated words with Barbra Blacksheep, but, really, who can blame her? We all remember that incident with Barbra and Ben D. Rules - hmmph - enough said! Our Lavinia is not that kind of girl and was far happier standing around the piano bar and chatting with other guests such as Aaron Tyres and Cora Napple. Although I believe she was anxious to avoid singing while Meyer Z. Dhoates, Doe C. Dhoates, Lillian C. D'Ivy warbled their way through yet another bottle of Bubbly as they are wont to do at any social gathering these days.

You don't need me to remind you that Lavinia was Runner-Up in the Guide Dogs for the Blind Beauty Quest in 1987 - who can ever forget her stunning entrance in that duck-egg blue tulle frock with the sprinkles of pink and orange sequins on the leg o' mutton sleeves? What was it the social reporter in the local paper said about her? "A vision in blue, all Lavinia needed was a long bamboo stick gaffer-taped to her back and she could have been mistaken for something you win at a school fete when you knock all the coconuts off the stand ..." 

Remembering her winsome beauty, we can understand why she was hotly pursued all night by Phil Landerer. You'll be relieved to know that she managed to escape his evil clutches (I suspect it was because she was secretly hoping a certain chap of Spanish descent would find her and whisk her away to a romantic location).

Marco DeStinkshun (no, not the one she was waiting for) cornered her and was regaling her with tales of his new Maserati that was able to go from 0 to 177 kmh in .01 seconds (or something equally silly) when she managed to escape and take refuge behind the potted palms. Just as Marco appeared around the corner and was about to discover her hiding place, Lavinia glanced over her shoulder in time to see Juan Morefore DeRhode striding manfully to her rescue ... 

Chuckle ...

Now apart from Lavinia's choice in companions, you may also be raising an eyebrow over the use of "able" with reference to an inanimate object like the Maserati. Janine asked just this question last week:

I had the vague idea that I learnt (way back) in school that able related to a person. He was able to do it, they were able to do it - referring to 'their' ability. A living thing has ability to act. 

I have been aware lately that the word is often used to refer to something that is not a living thing.  Now I have gone completely blank on the examples that I was planning to use but something almost like - the floor was able to be walked on! or The car was able to go down the hill, the dish was able to be carried!! This use makes me feel really uncomfortable.

I posted this question on the Board and we found this usage note at www.dictionary.com:

Usage Note: The construction able to takes an infinitive to show the subject's ability to accomplish an action: We were able to get a grant for the project. The new submarine is able to dive twice as fast as the older model. Some people think it should be avoided when the subject does not have an ability, as in sentences with passive constructions involving forms of the verb be: The problem was able to be solved by using a new lab technique. The reasoning here is that since the problem has no ability to accomplish an action, it is not able to do anything, and therefore able to should not be used. Presumably this ban would apply to similar words like capable and to negative words like unable and incapable. In such cases one can usually avoid the problem by using can or could: The problem could be solved.... Keep in mind, however, that passives with get ascribe a more active role to their subjects, and here one can use able to: He was able to get accepted by a top law school.

So perhaps Marco would have stood a better chance of success had he told Lavinia that his Maserati could go from 0 to 177 kmh in .01 seconds.

You, too, can make your contribution to Lavinia and the rest of us who toil away each week to bring you the Write Way. How? Easy-peasy:

1. Pay by PayPal:

2. Click here to subscribe for a full year OR

3. Use your credit card on my secure order form: http://www.write101.com/fund.htm (You can also access the PayPal subscription link from this page if the link above didn't work for you. With PayPal, you can use your credit card, PayPal account or pay online using your own cheque account.) OR

4. Send a cheque: http://www.write101.com/fund.htm 

Once upon a time, the West was wild, woolly and wealth filled. The wagon trains loaded up and headed for the Oregon Trail. The settlers had no money for supplies, which was why they were going West in the first place, and the great trading houses of the east coast gave them their supplies, seeds, equipment etc "on tick."    

Next year when the first harvest came in, the trading houses sent out debt collectors to pick up payment, and usually they also collected orders for further supplies. These debt collectors became known as Carpetbaggers from the bags in which they carried their wardrobes and paperwork.    

I can easily imagine in the frontier towns with communication in its infancy, that many opportunities for a bit of business on the side arose and were availed of. However, I am a keen student of social history - with an emphasis on  the rise of commerce- and I have never found the hard evidence that they were anything like as vile as our friend Wilson and the late H. Robbins suggests they were.  Perhaps they suffer the same bad press as present day door -to -door sellers.   

Later, as output from factories increased the Industrial Revolution, the Carpetbaggers HAD to take orders to ensure that the trading houses could dispose of their goods, and this is the earliest example of personal selling being deliberately conducted. Later they became known as Commercial Travellers......pardon?.......yes, I DO know the one about the traveller in ladies underwear, and if I hear it again I'll.........as I was saying, WW1 brought another quantum leap in output and in the early 1920s, what we now call the science of selling (and most of the major ideas in Management Science) were evolved. Concepts such as creating needs, professional persuasion skills, etc.   Later the production quantum leap from WW2 kicked in, and the early 50s first sees the emergence of the term "Marketing."   

Tom Watson, the founder of IBM, launched the first commercial computer in 1953. From then on, supply always greatly exceeded demand and selling became more and more professional.   And then in Oct 1977 the first micro chip is launched on the market, changing our world forever and sending production and consumption through the roof, introducing undreamt of levels of competition, and ensuring that only the fittest and most professional sellers survive and thrive.  

What a pity that the very engine which drives Capitalism - the creation of wealth through selling - suffers such a bad name in general, when selling is more important than any other activity in society as we know it...From Carpetbagger to Modern Professional Salesmanship - What a journey!  

(If you're interested in learning more about the art of selling, you can subscribe to Maitiu's newsletter, "The Order Form"  mailto:maitiu@indigo.ie )

And from Nathan Hughes Richmond, VA:

Interestingly enough, I am reading a book on the "hidden history" of the USA, titled "Lies My Teacher Told Me".  The part that I just read was regarding carpetbaggers and their real story.  The author contends that the history books that US schools use are highly biased in different areas and "white-washed" to take out anything interesting at all, whether the interesting points are embarrassments or achievements.  The carpetbaggers are another example of the poor treatment of a historical viewpoint.   

I don't know who exactly to believe, but the author does make some good points about the treatment of carpetbaggers.  They were capitalistic opportunists, sure, but they risked great physical harm to make their money, as they weren't in the most secure position (as you can tell by the leftover disgust for them even today).  The author also points out that without the carpetbaggers' investments after the Civil War, the South would not have recovered as quickly as it did.   

This should all make our present-day Carpetbag Maker, Larry Lowrance sleep more easily :)

This week's quiz:

If you ever needed convincing that English has a word for every occasion - here's the proof:

abacinate, otolith,  taeniacide, gamomania, decanal, acatamathesia, dipleidoscope, kern, dreikanter, xerarch, 

1. located on south side of the choir in a church (not the north, east or west side)

2. instrument for measuring moment when an object passes a meridian (just that one moment)

3. three-faced pebble worn by wind (not four or five, but three)

4. to blind by putting red-hot copper basin near the eyes (not an enamel basin or tin or glass, but copper)

5. inability to understand data presented to the senses (as opposed to???)

6. growing in dry places (not wet or damp)

7. calcium concretion in inside of vertebrate's ear to aid in equilibrium (don't you wish you'd discovered this?)

8. killing of tapeworms (remind me to do a list of killer words)

9. part of typeface letter that sticks out beyond its body (OK, I can see the use of this one)

10.obsession with issuing odd marriage proposals (I just love this!)

OK - I double dare you to use one or more of these in conversation this weekend!

Here's a lesson in the literal:

So I was getting into my car, and this bloke says to me, "Can you give me a lift?" 

I said, "Sure, you look great, the world's your oyster, go for it."

Last week's quiz:

Thanks to Jim Noble for spotting the mistake in oscilloscope - definitely two Ls ... that's what happens when you don't have your glasses on!

And RoseMary Salzman has a request: 

When giving the answers to the "Last Weeks Quiz", would you mind giving the pronunciation along with the correct answer?  I STILL don't know how to say them!! Thanks for a wonderful newsletter. ;o)

So, here goes:

1.apparatus for determining the alcoholic strength of a liquid by mans of its boiling point - ZEOSCOPE (ZEE-uh-skohp)

2. stammering - TRAULISM (TRAW-lizm)

3. the concluding part of a speech where the orator emphatically recapitulates the principle points of the argument - PERORATION (per-oh-RAY-shun)

4. an inflammation of the throat - QUINSY (KWIN-see)

5. a supporting mine timber; door post - DURN (DERN)

6. resembling a reptile - HERPETOID (HERP-uh-toyd)

7. instrument that visually records an electric wave on a fluorescent screen - OSCILLOSCOPE (oh-SILL-uh-skohp)

8. a loud roar - BOATION (bo-AY-shun)

9. living in the fields - ARVICOLINE (ahr-VIK-uh-lyne)

10.in a state of undress - ENDESHABILLE (ahn-day-za-bay-LEY)

Now I know we're all grown-ups here, so you'll appreciate this:

If you're a man and you want to make a woman happy, all you have to do is to be:
1. a friend
2. a companion
3. a lover
4. a brother
5. a father figure
6. a teacher
7. an educator
8. a cook
9. a gardener
10. a carpenter
11. a driver
12. an engineer
13. a mechanic
14. an interior decorator
15. a stylist
16. a sex therapist
17. a gynaecologist/obstetrician
18. a psychologist
19. a psychiatrist
20. a therapist
21. a good father
22. a gentleman
23. well organised
24. tidy
25. very clean
27. athletic
28. affectionate
29. affable
30. attentive
31. ambitious
32. amenable
33. articulate
34. bold
35. brave
36. creative
37. courageous
38. complimentary
39. capable
40. decisive
41. intelligent
42. imaginative
43. interesting
44. prudent
45. patient
46. polite
47. passionate
48. respectful
49. sweet
50. strong
51. skilful
52. supportive
53. sympathetic
54. tolerant
55. understanding
56. someone who loves shopping
57. someone who doesn't make problems
58. someone who never looks at other women
59. very rich

If you're a woman, to make a man happy, all you have to do is:

1. Let him have sex with you

Oh dear ... it's not like that at all, is it?

The FOTA Board has a Yiddish Quiz running at the moment - as well as lots of fascinating discussions on all aspects of language - pop around any time: http://pub37.bravenet.com/forum/fetch.php?id=9919333&usernum=3170114826

Please encourage your friends and rellies to subscribe - just send them this link:  mailto:WritingTips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com   It's much easier than you having to forward the newsletter to them every week.

Oxymoron:  Do you have all those dreadful 'Survivor' and 'Big Brother' type shows on TV in your part of the world? Then you'll understand this week's oxymoron - reality television.

Word of the week: Drapetomania (n) intense desire to run away from home

And, no, I don't really suffer from this ... if I ever did get enough money to run away, I'd take everyone with me!

And here's a Latin phrase I hope I never hear from Lavinia:

Ita, semel et solum tibi permissum est. (OK, just this once.)
Regards,

Jennifer

To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: mailto:WritingTips-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com  or go to the  web site, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WritingTips  This menu will also let you change your subscription between digest and normal mode.

Click here to subscribe for the next year:

To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: mailto:WritingTips-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com  or go to the  web site, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WritingTips  This menu will also let you change your subscription between digest and normal mode.

Home | Contact | Order | Site Map |Subscribe   

Copyright 2006 Jennifer Stewart Write101.com