Collected Miscellany

John Derbyshire in his diary on NRO blogged this language observation earlier this month.

Regardless of what you think of religion in general, or Christianity in particular, all those past centuries of widespread Bible reading were wonderfully enriching to our language. Now that is all slipping away, and our language is correspondingly poorer. I noticed this a few years ago, when I complained to my Wall Street boss, a lady with a degree from a good university and a six-digit salary, that in giving me a project to complete without the proper means to complete it, she was asking me to make bricks without straw. She stared at me uncomprehendingly. “Bricks? Straw? What on earth are you talking about, John?”

It happened again the other day. In conversation with some intelligent and well-educated Americans, I used the word “covet.” Blank looks. Then, nervously (I am not a stranger to these people): “Er, John, do you mean… cover?” No, I said, I meant “covet,” as in the Tenth Commandment. You know: Thou shalt not covet they neighbor’s ox, nor his ass… Now they were looking at each other as if I had lapsed into Klingon. Where is Roy Moore when you need him?

I agree. Our language and our country are built on stories and ideas of the Bible, particularly the King James translation, though Shakespeare used the Bishops Bible, I believe, and the Pilgrims used the Geneva Bible, a type of Reformation study Bible. Regardless the specific translation or printing most used during the founding of the United States, the English Bible has molded our cultural language use after its image.

The lead editor of the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, E. D. Hirsch, Jr., agrees.

No one in the English-speaking world can be considered literate without a basic knowledge of the Bible. Literate people in India, whose religious traditions are not based on the Bible but whose common language is English, must know about the Bible in order to understand English within their own country. All educated speakers of American English need to understand what is meant when someone describes a contest as being between David and Goliath, or whether a person who has the “wisdom of Solomon” is wise or foolish, or whether saying “My cup runneth over” means the person feels fortunate or unfortunate.

I listened to a great documentary on the pilgrims this morning. In it, a historian working at the Plymouth Plantation museum said the pilgrims brought over more books on the Mayflower than any other item. They were well-educated as well as adventurous.

What are your thoughts on the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving? I’m both amused and distressed by the distaste some historians have for the pilgrims religious motives. They came to this land, sailing off the end of the known world in a sense, to worship the Lord in freedom. When the arrived, they did not disembark until a day later, staying on the Mayflower to thank the Lord for the success of their difficult voyage. The Mayflower Compact, you may remember, established civil government for the purpose of glorifying God, honoring King James I, and advancing the Christianity. A historian in the documentary described the governments role in that advancement as upholding justice and the law fairly and not forcing citizens to submit to a written creed which is what England was doing at the time. This is the atmosphere of the first Thanksgiving; but some writers want to label parts of the activities “secular.”

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A Circle of Quiet offers these helpful hints for when one might find time to read (with pictures). Did she leave anything out? I know that World Magazine editor Marvin Olasky reads many books while walking on a treadmill. I wish I could read while mowing the lawn. What about you?

“It is common to think the world is becoming increasingly illiterate and inattentive,” reports Leah Hoffmann in Forbes Magazine. “At the same time, truly interesting and original literature continues to be published–and not all of it is languishing in the sale bins.”

Who are the ten authors dubbed “tastemakers,” that is, “writers whose work is having the greatest impact on our culture?” J.M. Coetzee, Don DeLillo, Joan Didion, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Safran Foer, Stephen King, Elmore Leonard, Philip Roth, J.K. Rowling, Zadie Smith.

[by way of The Book Glutton]

Circulation figures for several popular newspapers are available. Subscriptions are down across the board, except for the NY Times which grew subscriptions less than half a percent. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Boston Globe scored lowest, over 8% down. [by way of Thinking Right]

In related news, NY Times reporter Judith Miller has left the Times, I hope for greener pastures. The Times reports a letter she has written will run under the heading “Judith Miller’s Farewell” tomorrow. “Ms. Miller said she was leaving partly because some of her colleagues disagreed with her decision to testify in the C.I.A. leak case.”

I must say this whole Joe Wilson, Scooter Libby, CIA leak investigation is not right. The Times acted as if they had nothing to do with Miller’s reporting, as if covering themselves instead of helping uncover the truth they claimed to be after. Now, the prosecutor has indicted Libby, stating Wilson’s wife was not known to work at CIA as Libby had claimed. I understand four reporters have emerged to testify to the contrary. If it can be demonstrated that Wilson’s wife was not “outed” by Libby, can he still be charged?

I appeal to The American Thinker for more on this.

Can we learn a blogspheric zeitgeist through blog searching? Here are some numbers.

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Here’s a winning headline, if I ever saw one: “Local author puts thoughts on page.” It’s for an article on Leslie Miklosy, who was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lives in Fayetteville, NC. Maybe the headline writer thought this one would be a little funny. What the alternatives? “Author Pens Words on Screen.” “Man Writes After Thinking.” “Flip Marlding Crab Winsting.” Hmm, the last one has a nice poetic ring to it.