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Polonius. What do you read, my Lord?
Hamlet. Words, words, words.
Hamlet. Act II, sc. 2, line 195
Words, words, words, have in the last few years been the
subject of irate parents and nervy school boards. The result
has been a critical scrutiny of contemporary books and a
reexamination of classical literature. The purpose behind the
zealots ire over passages and outright banning of books is to
protect the present generation and generations in the future
from the nefarious influence of certain words and scenes
sidelong glances
cort fernald
The most recent casualty of the literary prudes was Mark
Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The satirical
novel of the mores of the south was initially ordered removed
from the curriculum of Mark Twain Intermediate School in
Fairfax County, Va. — and then conditionally reinstated. The
novel was attacked as racist, specifically for the frequent use
of the derogatory term “nigger" for blacks
Other authors and books currently under attack are
John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, Sylvia Plath’s The Bell
Jar, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-five, Bernard
Malamud’s The Fixer, J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye,
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Arthur Miller's Death of a
Salesman, P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins, and American Heri
tage Dictionary.
Presumably, the reason these works are being banned is
for their use of the “wrong" words to describe events or
people. But words are the chronicles of human sensation —
they can’t always be made shining to convey the truth of
experience.
“There is a weird power in a spoken word . And a word
carries far — very far — deals destruction through time as the
bullets go flying through space ”
Joseph Conrad Lord Jim. chap. 15
Much of the power of words are in the eyes and minds of
the receivers. The difference between the "right” word and a
“good" word is much like the difference between love and
lust. Both motivate, yet one cheapens the meaning of the
other. “Right” words are imperative. That's not rightness in a
socially acceptable vein — that's rightness for context and
style.
Approximation of words tend to become amusing
Norman Mailer, in Naked and the Dead, and Tennessee
Williams, in Streetcar Named Desire were forced to use frig
and rut rather than the more appropriate term.
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of
silver.”
Proverbs. XXV, 11
Probably the ultimate in the fearsome words subject to
latter-day bowdlerism (after Thomas Bowdler, 1754-1825,
Eng. editor who in 1818 published an expurgated Shake
speare) is the German ficken.
Eric Partridge’s A Dictionary of Slang and Unconven
tional English 1961 defines that word in this way:
F*CK, v.t. and i. To have sexual connexion. The earliest
and latest dictionaries to record it are Florio (s.v. fottere) and
Grose, the O.E.D., S.O.D., E.D.D. all ‘banning’ it (cf. note at
c**t): the efforts of James Joyce and D.H. Lawrence have
not restored it to its orig. dignified status. Either ex greek, L
futuere, Fr. foutre, the medial c. and the abridged form being
due to a Teutonic radical and an A.S. tendancy, or more
prob., as A.W. Read (after Kluge) convincingly maintains, ex
Ger. ficken, lit. to strike, hence to copulate with
I always thought f*ck came from the Puritans who put
wantons in the stocks for unlawful carnal knowledge. If you
see Kay, tell her I ticked up and was wrong
The language is already being destroyed by illiteracy —
it's unimaginable that intelligent people would allow the
language to be limited further.
But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
Lord Byron Don Juan. Canto III stanza 88
letters
st'4
Woman(kind)
Imagine that when I say
“Womankind” the term would
include you and all men Pre
tend that this is a custom and
men have always been included
in the term'Womankind " What
effect might this have on your
sense of identity? And what
would this suggest about your
status in society.
Calling "people" “human be
ings" enhances one's grammar
and one's ethics
Janet Brown
Senior, tine arts
Scapegeeks
All right already. Haven’t we
heard enough snide bullying of
the Greek system? I admit, it
provides a handy scapegoat; its
members scream and yell dur
ing rush, put obnoxious mes
sages in the Emerald, and too
often include a rather sheltered
portion of the white upper class
The system’s critics certainly
see an ugly minority — loud,
pretentious people always draw
attention first. Therefore, it’s
convenient for observers —
those too prejudiced to examine
further — to accept that minority
as the norm. However, the
Emerald has printed so many of
those trite reprimands that they
seem almost cliched
What about the other side of
the story? I came to the Univer
sity an ardent non-conformist
who scorned the Greek system
loudly. To avoid hypocrisy, I
became involved to find out ex
actly what I criticized What I
criticized has led me, directly
and indirectly, to many bright,
sensitive, intellectual friends
(Greek and independent), in
valuable experience with sever
al ASUO programs, increased
political awareness and. iron
ically, a feeling of personal in
dependence I'm not saying
these would not have happened
otherwise, but life does contin
ue normally within the system
I don't think I'm a stereo
typical Greek However, if that
stereotype includes those who
have worked for the ERA, the
nuclear arms freeze, rallied
against U S assistance to El
Salvador, and condemn elitism
and white, male supremacy,
than perhaps I do represent the
stereotype, because there are
many other Greeks who fight for
the same goals as I Yes, it's
true Geeks are people too
Juliet Hyams
Junior, foumallam
Ripped-off
Recently, I moved from an
apartment managed by a well
known University area man
agement company I had a
security deposit which was to
tally refundable A little over a
month later (after I moved) I
received a check for less than
half the amount of the deposit I
was quite upset since I had
cleaned the apartment thor
oughly.
How many off-campus
students get ripped-off by the
campus area management
companies and do nothing
about it? If you could care less
about the deposit (usually $150
to $200) you could trash the
place, but most college
students could use the deposit
money
I strongly object to these
management companies
wrongfully withholding deposit
money. I've had friends hassle
with this same problem I, my
self. got some legal assistance
and received the remainder of
my deposit back These com
panies don't want legal hassles,
so they will comply when threa
tened
I just want to make off-cam
pus students aware of the fact
that management companies
will take advantage of the
renters deposit upon departure
The Better Business of the city
of Eugene and other legal ad
vice can be attained through the
university. If you feel you've
been or are being ripped-off get
legal advice and confront these
companies
Leslis Fournier
Junior, music
letters policy
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