799-1: Feedback, Notes and Comments

Wardour Street English Many readers responded to this piece in the previous issue. To a person, they dismissed Fowler’s list of pseudo-archaic words to be avoided and commented that they regularly used several of them, including withal. Kim Braithwaite said: “It is the perfect word in the right context — which, to be sure, doesn’t come around often, and won’t in this e-mail. I use it gratefully, joyfully, whenever the discourse warrants, in casual e-mails and (though rarely) in conversation with friends. Albeit is a good word too, in the right place.” It was good to learn that I’m not alone in liking it.

Anton Sherwood and Rob Kerr told me about a famous piece by the SF writer Poul Anderson, Uncleftish Beholding, which explains atomic theory using only Old English roots: “The next greatest firststuff is sunstuff, which has two firstbits and two bernstonebits. The everyday sort also has two neitherbits in the kernel. If there are more or less, the uncleft will soon break asunder.” The full text is online here.

Trumpet-blowing time With issue 800 imminent, it was a pleasure to learn from new subscriber Sandra Boedecker that a piece written by Mark Peters in the current issue of Copyediting newsletter contains these comments: “As one of the most reliable, well-researched, and intriguing resources in the lexical world, World Wide Words is a treasure. ... I’ve written hundreds of language articles, and I would sooner write in pig Latin than neglect to consult this vast archive.” That online archive currently contains 2601 items. See the full index. Enjoy!