24 - Wednesday, January 29, 1992 —- North Shore News

New York Times columnist William Safire on
the many permutations of the Engiish language

Language Maven Strikes Again, William Safire, Fitzhenry &
Whiteside. Price: $18.95

WOULDN'T presume to take issue with a writer whose

“On Language” column has enlivened The New York

Times Magazine for more than a decade (this is the sixth
compilation from that source), but | might have a go at the
copywriter who dubbed him ‘“‘America’s premier word-

smith.”

“Smith (blacksmith, tinsmith,
etc.) has definite connotations of
manu‘acture, making and/or shap-
ing, lixe the “wright” in
wheelwrizht and playwrighi, and
Safire is no more a coiner of words
than an arbiter of correct usage,
though he shares Petronius’ satir-
ical wit.

Tongi:e firmiy in cheek (which
makes pronunciation difficuit;
hence the need to write), Safire is
an intellectuai gadfly, a sometimes
irritating enthusiast of the English
language.

For self-descripticn, he prefers
the word “maven” (Yiddish
derivation; a knowledgeable or
discerning person, often having
overtones of ‘‘wiseguy’’), over
“pundit” (“learned man,’’ bor-
rowed from Hindi almost 200
years ago and rubbed too smooth
by over-use) or “boffin’” (British
armed forces slang for experts
working on secret weapons or
plans cirea WWI; etymology
unknown). Ain’t this fun?

On Language is not the word
from “on high,” nor are Safire’s
pronouncements “carved in
stone” (both probably references
to Moses’ receiving the Ten Major
Memos on Mt. Sinai, pre-Federal
Express); it’s a forurn and some of
the more entertaining excerpts
reprinted here emanate not from
the author but from his cor-
respondents — the Lexico-graphic

* Irregulars, lurking linguistic par-
.tisans vho snipe at him with un-
monotonous reguiarity as he at-
teinpts to translate bureauceatese,

computerese and teenese into

nternational 27
radio & t.yv,
personaliti

Jokn Moore
BOOK REVIEW

credible speech.

The longevity and popularity of
Safire’s column reflects its subject:
the world-dominance of the
English language (still the planet's
most popular second tongue and
arguably the most influeniiai
lingua franca the world has ever
known) is not just a socio-
economic relic of the recently ex-
pired British Empire.

The people of England (notable
for their dialectic diversity), lost
their patent on the native tongue
as they acquired an empire and
shipped their undesirables to
Botany Bay or revoiting colonies
and company outposts in the
Americas.

Unlike the French, whose
Academie remains one of the great
“derriere-garde”’ institutions of
our time, the English sensibl
made no attempt to curtail the
randy cross-fertilizing tendencies
of what was a bastard language to
begin with.

Chaucer’s English was an
Angio-Saxon bride decked out ‘n a
Norman (originally Norse) French

gown, with Latin and Celtic ac-
cessories.

Eclectic trend-setter or ‘fashion
victim?’ In spite of a few reac-
tionaries with plums stuck in their
throats who've futily tried to dress
the old girl up as Queen Victoria,
she remains a sidewalk tart in hik-
ing boots, mini-skirt, skeg-head tee
and Cowichan sweater, picking vo
words faster than a Tower of Babe,
mason can stack bricks.

Safire is not her mentor; merely
one of her more entertaining
escorts, devoted, like William
Cobbett, the 19th century
“grammarsian and vituperator”
he quotes, to the idea that
“What a whole people adopts
and universally practises, must, in
such cases, be deemed correct.”

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