[lit-ideas] Sunday waffle...
- From: Ursula Stange <Ursula@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 30 May 2005 09:45:12 -0400
This article came across my screen this morning and seemed related to the
Sunday waffle. It reminded me of an old Star Trek episode where the crew must
try to communicate with an alien people who speak only in metaphor. I've
occasionally used part of the episode in my class because Capt. Picard tells
the story of Gilgamesh. I believe it was called "Darmok" but the most
memorable line was "Temba, with arms wide."
Coincidentally, I reread this week, George Orwell's little treatise on the
demise of the English language. He makes the point that some metaphors get so
old and stale that they no longer carry their original meaning with them and
get used entirely superficially (and misquoted into the bargain). His example
was the use of 'towing the line' for 'toeing the line.' What power can a
metaphor have if half the population associates the wrong image with it?
Perhaps it doesn't matter, though. The phrase eventually takes on a meaning of
its own which we can learn from context. We understand the idea of limelight,
for instance, even when we don't know why it's called that.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=000BE01D-E7E3-1294-A7E383414B7F0000
Ursula,
towing the line all by herself
in North Bay
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