for the Grice Circle
For some reason, Chapman (I love her) cannot spell 'eschatology', as spelt (spelled?) by Grice. She spells it 'scatology', I _think_.
In any case, there's poppycock.
A classicist I knew derived this from the Grecian word for 'north': The Greeks pointed to the north, the Romans to the south -- hence 'dexter'.
Quinion disagrees:
"This is a red herring."
"The direct association, her, is with "cack", a fine Old English term, for excrement or dung."
""Cac-hus" was OE for a privy, and both words come from L. "cacare", to defecate.""
Unfortunately, the Oxford Etymological Dictionary fails to give 'cack' an
OE pedigree, alas.
For Onions, it's only 'XV'. "prob. from Middle Low German, MDu cacken (Du kakken), corr. to G. kacken, etc.", via Latin, from
IE *kak- (cognate with Irish 'cacaim').
'Cacare' is neither, alas, listed in the otherwise rather complete glossary of Latin loan-words in Alistair Campbell's _Old English Grammar_ (ch. x, sections B-C).
So here's another OED gap (The other one was for 'implicature' as pointed out quoting me by Horn in ADS-L).
How widespread was the Anglo-Saxon privy, then? And is it listed, say, in
the Doomsday Book then?
No, it's not.
But King Alfred, then, never used 'cacophony':
Weird Words: Cacography
... of cacophony, "bad noises" (despite the association of ideas, it has
nothing to
do with our cack-handed, which derives from Old English cack, "excrement").
...
http://www.quinion.com/words/weirdwords/ww-cac1.htm
Weird Words: Poppycock
... The first half of the word is closely related to our pap for infants'
soft food;
the second half is essentially the same as the old English cack for
excrement ...
http://www.quinion.com/words/weirdwords/ww-pop1.htm
xrefer - Hand
... Hand. [From Old English]. (1) One ... hygiene. The BrE dialect term
cack-handed
for 'left-handed' derives from cack excrement. Because ...
http://www.xrefer.com/entry/442306
Etc.
Showing posts with label By J. L. Speranza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label By J. L. Speranza. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Grice Abroad
For the Grice Club
Mikes writes in "How to become a Brit"
"Furriners should not regret, and recall that
they provide an endless source of mirth to
some Englishmen"
--- And he knew -- but that was before we's got swamped by them -- them Hungarians!
---
Anyway, Grice was perhaps right in restricting 'implicature' to "intended implicature".
"An implicatura," he writes, "is not like a baby. An unwanted baby is _still_ a baby; an unwanted implicature is not". He meant, not an implicature, no not a baby, which we know.
Thus, when travelling abroad, never mind. Never mind the implicature. People don't _KNOW_.
It's useless to _try_.
Just consider this random sample of signs from around the world. That is, English signs in foreign places. And why is it that the _wrong_ people travel? Now you know!
Cocktail lounge, Norway:
LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR.
At a Budapest zoo:
PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS. IF YOU HAVE ANY SUITABLE FOOD, GIVE IT TO THE GUARD ON DUTY.
Doctors office, Rome:
SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES.
Information booklet about using a hotel air conditioner, Japan:
COOLS AND HEATS: IF YOU WANT CONDITION OF WARM AIR IN YOUR
ROOM, PLEASE CONTROL YOURSELF.
Car rental brochure, Tokyo:
WHEN PASSENGER OF FOOT SIGHT, BLOW THE HORN, MELODIOUSLY AT FIRST,
BUT IF HE STILL OBSTACLES YOUR PASSAGE THEN BLOW HIM WITH VIGOUR.
In a Nairobi restaurant:
CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER.
On a River highway:
TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE.
On a poster at Kencom:
ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ? IF SO, WE CAN HELP.
In a City restaurant:
OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, AND WEEKENDS TOO.
In a maternity ward:
NO CHILDREN ALLOWED.
In a cemetery:
PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY GRAVES BUT THEIR OWN .
Tokyo hotel's rules and regulations:
GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIOURS IN BED.
On the menu of a Swiss restaurant:
OUR WINES LEAVE YOU NOTHING TO HOPE FOR.
In a Tokyo bar:
SPECIAL COCKTAILS FOR THE LADIES WITH NUTS.
In a Bangkok temple:
IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ENTER A WOMAN EVEN A FOREIGNER IF DRESSED AS A MAN.
Hotel room notice, Thailand:
PLEASE DO NOT BRING SOLICITORS INTO YOUR ROOM.
Hotel brochure, Italy:
THIS HOTEL IS RENOWNED FOR ITS PEACE AND SOLITUDE. CROWDS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD FLOCK HERE TO ENJOY ITS SOLITUDE.
Hotel lobby, Bucharest:
THE LIFT IS BEING FIXED FOR THE NEXT DAY. DURING THAT TIME WE REGRET THAT YOU WILL BE UNBEARABLE.
Hotel elevator, Paris:
PLEASE LEAVE YOUR VALUES AT THE FRONT DESK.
Hotel, Japan:
YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID.
In a Russian Orthodox monastery:
YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY EXCEPT THURSDAY.
Supermarket, Hong Kong:
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE, WE RECOMMEND COURTEOUS, EFFICIENT SELF-SERVICE.
From the "Soviet Weekly":
THERE WILL BE A MOSCOW EXHIBITION OF ARTS BY 15,000 SOVIET REPUBLIC PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS. THESE WERE EXECUTED OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS.
In an East African newspaper:
A NEW SWIMMING POOL IS RAPIDLY TAKING SHAPE SINCE THE CONTRACTORS HAVE THROWN IN THE BULK OF THEIR WORKERS.
Hotel, Zurich:
BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE.
An advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist:
TEETH EXTRACTED BY THE LATEST METHODISTS.
A laundry in Rome:
LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND SPEND THE AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME.
Tourist agency, Czechoslovakia:
TAKE ONE OF OUR HORSE-DRIVEN CITY TOURS. WE GUARANTEE NO MISCARRIAGES.
The box of a clockwork toy made in Hong Kong:
GUARANTEED TO WORK THROUGHOUT ITS USEFUL LIFE.
In a Swiss mountain inn:
SPECIAL TODAY - NO ICE-CREAM.
Airline ticket office, Copenhagen:
WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS.
Etc.
As an exercise take your pick and analyse in some detail where the misimplicature lies.
Mikes writes in "How to become a Brit"
"Furriners should not regret, and recall that
they provide an endless source of mirth to
some Englishmen"
--- And he knew -- but that was before we's got swamped by them -- them Hungarians!
---
Anyway, Grice was perhaps right in restricting 'implicature' to "intended implicature".
"An implicatura," he writes, "is not like a baby. An unwanted baby is _still_ a baby; an unwanted implicature is not". He meant, not an implicature, no not a baby, which we know.
Thus, when travelling abroad, never mind. Never mind the implicature. People don't _KNOW_.
It's useless to _try_.
Just consider this random sample of signs from around the world. That is, English signs in foreign places. And why is it that the _wrong_ people travel? Now you know!
Cocktail lounge, Norway:
LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR.
At a Budapest zoo:
PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS. IF YOU HAVE ANY SUITABLE FOOD, GIVE IT TO THE GUARD ON DUTY.
Doctors office, Rome:
SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES.
Information booklet about using a hotel air conditioner, Japan:
COOLS AND HEATS: IF YOU WANT CONDITION OF WARM AIR IN YOUR
ROOM, PLEASE CONTROL YOURSELF.
Car rental brochure, Tokyo:
WHEN PASSENGER OF FOOT SIGHT, BLOW THE HORN, MELODIOUSLY AT FIRST,
BUT IF HE STILL OBSTACLES YOUR PASSAGE THEN BLOW HIM WITH VIGOUR.
In a Nairobi restaurant:
CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER.
On a River highway:
TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE.
On a poster at Kencom:
ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ? IF SO, WE CAN HELP.
In a City restaurant:
OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, AND WEEKENDS TOO.
In a maternity ward:
NO CHILDREN ALLOWED.
In a cemetery:
PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY GRAVES BUT THEIR OWN .
Tokyo hotel's rules and regulations:
GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIOURS IN BED.
On the menu of a Swiss restaurant:
OUR WINES LEAVE YOU NOTHING TO HOPE FOR.
In a Tokyo bar:
SPECIAL COCKTAILS FOR THE LADIES WITH NUTS.
In a Bangkok temple:
IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ENTER A WOMAN EVEN A FOREIGNER IF DRESSED AS A MAN.
Hotel room notice, Thailand:
PLEASE DO NOT BRING SOLICITORS INTO YOUR ROOM.
Hotel brochure, Italy:
THIS HOTEL IS RENOWNED FOR ITS PEACE AND SOLITUDE. CROWDS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD FLOCK HERE TO ENJOY ITS SOLITUDE.
Hotel lobby, Bucharest:
THE LIFT IS BEING FIXED FOR THE NEXT DAY. DURING THAT TIME WE REGRET THAT YOU WILL BE UNBEARABLE.
Hotel elevator, Paris:
PLEASE LEAVE YOUR VALUES AT THE FRONT DESK.
Hotel, Japan:
YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID.
In a Russian Orthodox monastery:
YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY EXCEPT THURSDAY.
Supermarket, Hong Kong:
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE, WE RECOMMEND COURTEOUS, EFFICIENT SELF-SERVICE.
From the "Soviet Weekly":
THERE WILL BE A MOSCOW EXHIBITION OF ARTS BY 15,000 SOVIET REPUBLIC PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS. THESE WERE EXECUTED OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS.
In an East African newspaper:
A NEW SWIMMING POOL IS RAPIDLY TAKING SHAPE SINCE THE CONTRACTORS HAVE THROWN IN THE BULK OF THEIR WORKERS.
Hotel, Zurich:
BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE.
An advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist:
TEETH EXTRACTED BY THE LATEST METHODISTS.
A laundry in Rome:
LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND SPEND THE AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME.
Tourist agency, Czechoslovakia:
TAKE ONE OF OUR HORSE-DRIVEN CITY TOURS. WE GUARANTEE NO MISCARRIAGES.
The box of a clockwork toy made in Hong Kong:
GUARANTEED TO WORK THROUGHOUT ITS USEFUL LIFE.
In a Swiss mountain inn:
SPECIAL TODAY - NO ICE-CREAM.
Airline ticket office, Copenhagen:
WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS.
Etc.
As an exercise take your pick and analyse in some detail where the misimplicature lies.
Implicatura: Everything Old Is New Again
for the Grice Club
Sidonius had it right:
'implicatura'
he said -- but people forgot. The rest, as they say, is legend.
Ref.
'implicatura' in Short/Lewis, Latin Dictionary. Oxford.
Sidonius had it right:
'implicatura'
he said -- but people forgot. The rest, as they say, is legend.
Ref.
'implicatura' in Short/Lewis, Latin Dictionary. Oxford.
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