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AWADmail Issue 687

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From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject: Interesting stories from the net

Narcissism Unrelated to Use of First-Person Singular Pronouns
Language Log
WebCite

We Deride Them as ‘Migrants’. Why Not Call Them People?
The Guardian
WebCite

New Words in Oxford Dictionaries
BBC
WebCite

From: Barbara Farber (barbfarb charter.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--lorelei

In the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Marilyn Monroe’s name was Lorelei Lee. Too funny.

My favourite representation of the Lorelei is George & Ira Gershwin’s song with that title. A woman expresses her desire to be as seductive as the Lorelei. The lyrics include:

From: David Schatzky (davidschatzky hotmail.com)
Subject: Die Lorelei

In high school German class in Toronto in the 1960s we sang Die Lorelei regularly. Its words and music have haunted me ever since. Here’s Erich Kunz’s version, lovely to listen to.

From: Mark D. Meadows (marktime ozarkmark.com)
Subject: Die Lorelei

I once translated Heine’s poem “Die Lorelei” into English for a high school poetry reading. Of course, you can’t translate poetry literally, or it won’t rhyme. Notice that my poem has the same meter and abab rhyme scheme as the original.

From: Andrew Pressburger (andpress sympatico.ca)
Subject: Lorelei

This eponym is also known in Canadian literature as Laurel’s Egg in a somewhat questionable translation of the renowned poem by Heine; the guilty party being one Sarah Bink, Sweet Songstress of Saskatchewan, the brainchild of the late Professor Paul Hiebert, who thereby established his immortality in the annals of literature instead of the journals of chemistry. In her search for accuracy and lyricism, poor Sarah couldn’t have known that Lorelei was not the product found in prairie barnyards (German das Ei), nor that the great waterway (der Rhein) was not exactly known for its pristine purity (German rein adj.) Or that wundersame doesn’t require a repeat of the word “wonderful”.

From: Ian Horrocks (ihorrocks379 hotmail.co.uk)
Subject: Boycott

The eponym boycott reminded me of the intriguing impact a name can have upon human behaviour. Geoffrey Boycott, stoic Yorkshire lad and England cricketer, spent years at the top of the sport frustrating bowlers by simply refusing to play any shot that might have given them the slightest chance of getting him out. Geoffrey’s tactic of boycotting risk was more than a method of staying at the crease: it seemed to stem from a psychological soup of stubbornness and pride. This wasn’t just the way he played cricket; it was the way he played life.

Coincidental this may be, but perhaps a strange kind of epithetical name bias is also at play.

Does anybody else ever feel the need to ‘live up to’ their names? Or has anybody retrospectively realised themselves doing so unconsciously?

From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject: Limericks

When Martha found George with a lorelei
The gen’ral confessed: “I can’t tell a lie”
“That noise from my tent
My dear wife, I repent
But she only was learning my battle cry.”

When Paul Pry peeped on the Lorelei,
perused rosy cheeks, lips, eyes lazuli,
they bade him come touch
their gold tresses, and such,
as he sank in the stream to their lullaby.

Said ladies to jew’ler. “We’ll boycott
you, sir. Though your wares we enjoy lots,
we must declare war.
We won’t enter your store,
for your stuff an excess of alloy’s got!”

In Congress the white male chauv’nism
Was useless against Shirley Chisholm
Nor would they dare bug
Mrs. Bella Abzug
Oh those powerful voices, I miss ’em.

Don Juan, Casanova, Lovelace,
Were fond of a lady’s embrace.
All were such great lovers,
That under the covers,
Helped populate the human race.

From: Phil Graham (pgraham1946 cox.net)
Subject: Puns on the week’s words

Did Lorelei when she said her marriage was on the rocks?

Will Rand Paul Pry any answers out of Hillary?

“There’s still an embargo on Cuban cigars and we will arrest any man or boycott sneaking them in.”

“Yah, zee Entertainment Section vill chauvinism-atinee.”

Naturally, lechers lovelace panties.