The Write Way

1 September 2006

The End is Nigh!

Greetings,

When I was a girl ... (now c'mon, we've had this talk before ... and you promised there'd be no more rolling of eyes or cheeky remarks ...) Ahem, when I was a girl, there was a chap who used to go around the city streets chalking the word "Eternity" in beautiful copperplate script on footpaths, in doorways, at the entrances to major buildings ... basically on any flat surface he could find. He was the original graffiti artist, and I can vividly remember going into the city in the 50s and 60s and seeing his unmistakable and enigmatic comment around the Sydney area. (I've seen reports that he wrote the word more than half a million times in the 30-odd years of his mysterious mission.) 

Because it was always done in chalk, it was a simple matter for people to simply rub out what had been written (although he did swap to crayon so that his message survived the rain), and he was regarded with affection by the majority of people. 

In my University days, we liked to sit around in those long hours between lectures, sipping a coffee, cup of tea or glass or three of Rough Red (depending on our inclinations) and theorising on what he was trying to tell us about Life, the Universe and Everything. 

Later, we discovered that the Eternity Man was a reformed meths drinker called Arthur Stace, and you can read his poignant story.  

Stace's contribution to the soul of Sydney was celebrated with the fireworks display that marked the beginning of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when his message was blazoned across the Harbour Bridge.  

And while this is all very moving, I haven't yet come to my real point this week (and you're surprised because ....?)

You see, I started thinking about Eternity when I read a statement by our very own newspaper magnate, Rupert Murdoch, predicting the end of newspapers as we know them. Rupe pointed to the fact that newspapers everywhere are losing readers by the fistful  ... and more worryingly for them, they're losing advertising revenue. This story was taken up by The Economist other media groups. 

I heard a number of commentators complain about the dumbing down of the media these days, and you have to agree with them when you ponder some of the offerings ...

Consider some of our Aussie publications ... What can you say about magazines such as Woman's Day that comes out weekly ... Women's Weekly that comes out monthly ... or New Idea that's never had one in its entire history? 

Sigh ... Who'd be a publisher, eh?

It's nigh impossible to please everyone, even with a nifty little word like nigh.

This word comes to us from a couple of Old English words, neah (from the West Saxons) and neh (from the Angles). Both words mean 'near.' Before the Saxons and Angles had it, though, it was a Gothic word, nehwa meaning ... 'near.'

You shouldn't be surprised that these words are also the origin of our word neighbour (neighbor). 

Nigh, as I mentioned, is a nifty word, and it's a bit of a shame really that it's not used much these days. Just consider its uses:

Onelook.com gives the following meanings:

adverb: near in time or place or relationship 

adverb: (of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; 'near' is sometimes used informally for 'nearly' and 'most' is sometimes used informally for 'almost'

And dictionary.com reveals all its talents: 

Did you notice the use of the superlative degree in those examples? Yep ... not only can something be nigh, it can also be nigher and nighest!

Didn't I tell you this was a nifty word? 

And maybe I'm wrong about it not being used much. Who can forget the immortal words of Johnny Horton in the Battle of New Orleans, "There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago"...?

This week's Little Something Extra will make your tiny mind turn somersaults ... it's a list of who owns what in the media... For now, let me just say that our Rupe's been a busy boy!

This week's quiz:

Try these words ... all about time and its passing:

hesternal, diurnal, hodiernal, anabiosis, heliacal, aestival, brumal, vernal, noctivagant, fugacious

1. having a daily cycle or occurring every day; belonging to or active during the day

2. of this day; belonging to the present day 

3. going about in the night; night-wandering 

4. characteristic of winter; of, relating to, or occurring in winter 

5. pertaining to or near the sun; especially the first rising of a star after and last setting before its invisibility owing to its conjunction with the sun 

6. pertaining to yesterday

7. fleeting; transitory; enduring a very short time 

8. of, pertaining to related to spring 

9. reanimation after apparent death 

10. pertaining or appropriate to summer 

And speaking of the end being nigh ... have you seen this summary of how various media might report this story to end all stories?

USA Today: WE'RE DEAD

The Wall Street Journal: DOW JONES PLUMMETS AS WORLD ENDS

National Enquirer: O.J. AND NICOLE, TOGETHER AGAIN

Playboy: GIRLS OF THE APOCALYPSE

Microsoft Systems Journal: APPLE LOSES MARKET SHARE

Victoria's Secret Catalog: OUR FINAL SALE

Sports Illustrated: GAME OVER

Wired: THE LAST NEW THING

Rolling Stone: THE GRATEFUL DEAD REUNION TOUR

Readers Digest: 'BYE

Discover Magazine: HOW WILL THE EXTINCTION OF ALL LIFE AS WE KNOW IT AFFECT THE WAY WE VIEW THE COSMOS?

TV Guide: DEATH AND DAMNATION: NIELSON RATINGS SOAR!

Lady's Home Journal: LOSE 10 LBS BY JUDGEMENT DAY WITH OUR NEW "ARMAGEDDON" DIET!

America Online: SYSTEM TEMPORARILY DOWN. TRY CALLING BACK IN 15 MINUTES.

Inc. magazine: TEN WAYS YOU CAN PROFIT FROM THE APOCALYPSE

Microsoft's Web Site: IF YOU DIDN'T EXPERIENCE THE RAPTURE, DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE PATCH RAPT777.EXE.

Sun: ARMAGEDDON TOLERANT SOFTWARE NOW AVAILABLE!

Ah ... love it!

Last week's quiz:

1. appropriate to the situation; apt - APROPOS

2. incapable of being placated, unpleasable - IMPLACABLE

3. disreputable; tawdry - RAFFISH

4. without deceit, honest - GUILELESS

5.unresisting, submissive - RESIGNED

6. berate, rail against, attack verbally - VITUPERATE

7. deliver, provide, represent - RENDER

8. shyness - DIFFIDENCE

9. fallacious reasoning, faulty logic - SOPHISTRY

10.to correct a false impression - DISABUSE

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Never-Ending Story

An Ape that wants to play Hamlet after being type-cast as King Kong, a talking anvil and that rottweiller ... Dr Morgenes is still caught in the nightmare that is the casting couch. Help him find a plot!  Just click on 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).

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A Little Something Extra

Who owns what in the media? 

Funny you should ask.

Scroll through the list compiled by the Columbia Journalism Review and then tell me, in 25 words or fewer, why we should all be quaking in our boots about the power to disseminate information these groups have: http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/ 

Remember to browse Rupert's News Corporation holdings! 

When you've recovered from the fright, it might be wise to spare a thought for what our kids will be fed by the media and then follow Aldene Fredenburg's suggestions and ...

Teach Your Children the Art of Letter Writing

With the ease of Internet communications, letter writing has become almost a lost art. But there are times when a handwritten note or letter is more appropriate, and much more appreciated, than an email.

Teaching children how to write a short letter or thank-you note to doting relatives will give them a valuable skill they can use throughout their lives. 

Read how you can help your children achieve this most desirable skill: http://www.write101.com/letterwriting.htm 

Word of the week: Eternity (n) infinite time; duration without beginning or end; an endless or seemingly endless period of time; the truths or realities of life and thought that are regarded as timeless or eternal

Our word of the week comes from .... (wait for it ....) Latin! Aeternus is the Latin word for eternal.

It's one of those words we bandy around all the time ... "I waited an eternity in the bank!" but never really stop to ponder. The concept of eternity is just too much for us to grasp. I mean, how can you get your head around that idea of something that has no beginning and no end?

I used to drive myself crazy in those years of my Idealistic Youf when I was struggling with all the Big Ideas. 

Oxymoron of the week: luxury on a budget (Now this may not be quite the oxymoron it sounds ... because I have it on good authority that you can have your cake and eat it, too! 

And this week's Latin phrase is one to use while we're in this philosophical frame of mind:

Tempus neminem manet 

[TAYM-poos nay-MEEN-aym MAHN-ayt]