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The Write Way 26 August 2005 The Surgeon of Crowthorne Greetings, We recently spent a couple of weeks driving down to Melbourne to visit our daughter, and while we were away, we also caught up with friends we've known for over 30 years. (I've introduced you to these friends before.) Talk ranged far and wide, as it does when you have a long history with people, but as we were leaving, my friend lent me a copy of a book she'd just finished, and what a great read it is! It tells the story of how the Oxford English Dictionary was compiled ... Now, don't be like that ... This really is a fascinating tale! It was in 1857 that the Philological Society met in London and proposed the compilation of a New English Dictionary, but it wasn't until 1928 (70 years later!) that the 12 volumes of the dictionary were published. And when you consider what was involved, it's amazing they got it done as quickly as this! Just think for a minute how difficult it is to define a word. Funnily enough, it's relatively easy to define the hard words, and for some odd reason, the longer the word, the easier it is to define e.g. if I ask you what 'multitudinous' means, you could quickly rattle off an acceptable definition such as, 'it means too numerous to be counted; lots and lots of something,' and you'd be right. Easy peasy. But what if I ask you to define 'take.' Have a look at the quick definitions at onelook. See the problem the editor, James Murray, and his team had with the OED? Now imagine having to come up with definitions for over half a million words as they did! Previous dictionaries had concentrated on hard words, but Murray wanted to 'fix' the language as it was used, so they decided to include all words. (By 'fix' they meant 'set it in time,' not 'mend.') The other aspect involved in compiling this particular dictionary, and one that made it unique and contributed to the time it took to complete, was that it insisted on "gathering quotations from the published or otherwise recorded use of English, and employing them to illustrate the sense of every single word in the language ... "Quotations could show exactly how a word has been employed over the centuries, how it has undergone subtle changes of shades of meaning, or spelling, or pronunciation, and, perhaps most important of all, how and more exactly when each word was slipped into the language in the first place." (The Surgeon of Crowthorne) Just mull on that for a moment and consider the implications ... gathering quotations (Murray decided on a minimum of six for every word; more for words with many meanings) for every word in the language at the time. Obviously this was not something a few mates could do over a beer in the back shed, so the Philological Society advertised throughout the realm for volunteers who would read the suggested books and compile lists of quotations for every word. And this is where the story gets interesting, because one who answered the call was Dr W. C. Minor, the surgeon of Crowthorne. Minor was an American Army surgeon who'd spent time patching up soldiers in the American Civil War, suffered a serious mental disorder, murdered a man in Lambeth Marsh while staying in England, and who worked on the dictionary while an inmate at Broadmoor Asylum in the village of Crowthorne. Told you it was fascinating, didn't I? I won't spoil the rest of the story for you, you'll just have to read it yourself, but this week's quiz has some interesting words from the book ... see how well you do! If you want to see the current OED, here it is, or buy your very own copy here or here.
This week's quiz: Match up these words and their definitions: vademecum, fascicle, agnate, spalt, abusion, acatalectic, louche, quire, vicinage, decussate 1. metrically complete; especially having the full number of syllables in the final metrical foot 2. limited region around a particular area; a vicinity; residents of a particular neighbourhood 3. one of the parts of a book published in separate sections 4. evil or corrupt usage; abuse; wrong; reproach; deception; cheat 5. deedless; clumsy; pert; saucy 6. a book for ready reference; something regularly carried about by a person 7. to intersect to form a cross 8. a quantity of paper 24-25 sheets; collection of leaves of parchment or paper, folded one within the other, in a manuscript or book 9. related on or descended from the father's or male side 10. of questionable taste or morality; decadent And here's another great story that Albert found and passed along ... Bubba
Joe's first military assignment was to a military induction Last week's quiz: While you're humming away, try your hand at these musical terms: adagio, aerophone, allegro, andante, arpeggio, glissando, grave, sonata, staccato, syncopation 1. short, detached notes, marked with a dot above them - STACCATO 2. rapid slide through pitches of a scale - GLISSANDO 3. fast, cheerful - ALLEGRO 4. solemn; very slow - GRAVE 5. quite slow - ADAGIO 6. instrumental genre in several movements for soloist or small ensemble - SONATA 7. instruments that produce sound by using air as the primary vibrating means (such as flute, woodwinds, brass) - AEROPHONE 8. broken chord in which the individual tones are sounded one after another instead of simultaneously - ARPEGGIO 9. deliberate upsetting of the meter or pulse through a temporary shifting of the accent to a weak beat or an offbeat - SYNCOPATION 10.moderately slow; walking pace - ANDANTE Click here to add your tuppence worth to the Never-Ending Story. Just click on the Never-Ending Story and use the Comments button at the end of the entry to add your contribution. If you have friends who fancy themselves as writers, invite them to contribute (just forward this newsletter in its entirety to them). Have you made your Mark on the World yet? No? Then stop by our Map of the World and read the messages. (Just click List) and add your mark: A Little Something Extra This week, an article by Londoner, Kal Bishop, for those of you struggling to create the hero of your next story ... Apotheosis - the Seminal Insight of the Hero for Screenwriting Every hero has a seminal insight - the apotheosis. Once you know what that insight will be, you can start building your story up to and beyond that point: In Casablanca, Rick's insight is that if you love someone, you sacrifice yourself for their happiness. That sacrifice can include selling your most prized material possessions (he sells his bar), allowing your love to find happiness in another's arms (he ultimately allows Ilsa to be with Victor), physical suffering (it is likely that his ultimate actions will see him to a concentration camp), leaving dear friends (he will have to leave Sam behind) and forced exile from home and heart (he will have to leave Casablanca). He learns this insight from both Ilsa and Victor, who are prepared to do the same for each other. In The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne's apotheosis is that you either get busy living or you get busy dying. He reaches that insight in the scene by the prison wall with Red (Morgan Freeman), but it is preceeded by the earlier insight that he will never get out of prison (Warden Norton will never let him go). The apotheosis is preceded by the physical processes of submersion (being locked in the hole for two months; the Belly of the Whale of the Ordeal) and rebirth through death (symbolised by the death of Tommy). The apotheosis is preceded by the crossing of the First Threshold and the Ordeal in general. In Al Pacino Scarface, Tony Montana's insight is that the rewards of the path he's chosen are not worth the spiritual price he is paying, expressed with the words (in the restaurant scene): "is this it? Is that what it's all about Manny? Eating, drinking, fucking, sucking," "no free rides in this world kid," "I lost my appetite," "is that what I worked for? With these hands? Is that what I killed for? For this?" In Alien, Ripley's apotheosis arrives during the conversation with Ash, the revived android. He tells her that the alien cannot be destroyed and that the military want it - this horror will be unleashed on the Earth unless she destroys it and the only way to do that is to nuke the Nostromo. In all of the above, the apotheosis leads straight into the final act. The insight gives the hero strength and focus and helps him (or her) overcome the antagonism and inner challenges. A detailed analysis of the Apotheosis and story structure templates can be found at http://www.managing-creativity.com/ You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site. Kal Bishop, MBA Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://www.managing-creativity.com (Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/) Word of the week: Swingeing (adj) severe; punishingly bad (From the Old English swengan 'to shake or dash') It's pronounced SWIN-jing, and don't you think it's a t'riffic word? You can now refer to those tiresome people who think they're real swingers as swingers (pronounced SWIN-jers). Maybe you could suggest they let you swinge them ... Smile as you say this, and they'll never know the word means 'punish with blows; thrash; beat.' You have to love English; it has a word for every occasion! This is another word from The Surgeon of Crowthorne ... get your copy here. Oxymoron of the week: simple technology I feel a special affinity with this week's oxymoron because my printer died during the week, and I spent two agonising days trying to find a replacement ... I scoured the Internet for starters, so I'd have a few terms to bandy around with the sales people when I finally plucked up enough courage to approach them on their home turf. Do you know how many different types of printers there are these days? Do you know how many different types of cartridges there are? Sheesh! So simple technology? I don't think so ... And this week's Latin phrase? No prizes for guessing this one! Cur ullum impimere non vis? (Why won't you print out?) [KOOR OO-loom eem-pee-MAY-ray NOHN WEES?] Kind regards, Jennifer P.S. Want to donate to the upkeep of this newsletter? Here's how: Kind regards, Jennifer P.S. Want to donate to the upkeep of this newsletter? Here's how: 1. Pay by PayPal: OR 2. Click here to subscribe for a full year OR 3. Use your credit card on my secure order form. (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 (made payable to Jennifer Stewart) 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. Copyright 2005 Jennifer Stewart Individual articles copyrighted by
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