Was it too much to expect the rest of the world to care about grammar or pay attention to details?
Tina Fey (via chancefordaybreak)
I'm an editor.
When the Normans, who spoke a dialect of Old French, ruled over England, they changed the face of English. Over the ensuing two centuries, thousands of Old French words entered English. Because the ruling class spoke Old French, that set of vocabulary became synonymous with the elite. Everyone else used Old English. During this period, England’s society was diglossic: one community, two language sets with distinct social spheres. Today, English-speakers pick and choose from the different word sets—Latinate (largely Old French borrowings) and Germanic (mostly Old English-derived words)—depending on the occasion. Although English is no longer in a diglossic relationship with another language, the Norman-era diglossia remains reflected in the way we choose and mix vocabulary. In informal chat, for example, we might go on to ask something, but in formal speech we’d proceed to inquire. There are hundreds of such pairs: match/correspond, mean/intend, see/perceive, speak/converse. Most of us choose one or the other without even thinking about the history behind the split. Germanic words are often described as earthier, simpler, and friendlier. Latinate vocabulary, on the other hand, is lofty and elite. It’s amazing that nine hundred years later, the social and political structure of 12th-century England still affects how we think about and use English.
The research arm of dating site OKCupid looked at 500,000 first contacts and concluded that ‘netspeak, bad grammar and bad spelling are huge turn-offs’. The biggest passion killers were ‘ur’, ‘r’, ‘u’, ‘ya’ and ‘cant’. Also damaging to online suitors were ‘luv’ and ‘wat’.
On the other hand, correct use of apostrophes was appealing. Using ‘don’t’ and ‘won’t’ caused better than average response rates - 36% and 37% respectively, according to the research.
Ancient Roman Floor Mosaic Orpheus and His Animals, c. 20 CE
Tenets of the Orphic Mysteries:
- Characterizing human souls as divine and immortal but doomed to live (for a period) in a “grievous circle” of successive bodily lives through metempsychosis or the transmigration of souls
- Prescribing an ascetic way of life which, together with secret initiation rites, was supposed to guarantee not only eventual release from the “grievous circle” but also communion with god(s).
- Warning of postmortem punishment for certain transgressions committed during life.
- Being founded upon sacred writings about the origin of gods and human beings.
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The Chained Library of Zutphen
I took these pictures during a visit to the 16th-century chained library of Zutphen, in the east of the Netherlands. It is one of three such libraries still in existence in Europe. Nothing much has changed here for 550 years.
More info: http://www.librije-zutphen.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=14&Itemid=111
A very old bookbinding
A few weeks ago I was at Liverpool University to give a workshop about medieval manuscripts. While picking out a few items the day before, I came across this beauty. It’s a mid-twelfth-century book that is still in its original binding. Bindings from this age do not survive in high numbers (in fact, it was my first encounter) so a modest splash of images is in order. I love how sturdy and plain it looks: it’s a binding and that’s what it is. The clasp is a fifteenth-century replacement.
Pics: Liverpool University, Sydney Jones Library, MS F.3.12 (Germany, c. 1150). Read more about the book (which I redated, meaning it’s now the oldest in the library) here: http://news.liv.ac.uk/2013/03/19/revealed-the-oldest-book-in-university-libraries/
