[lit-ideas] Re: Mitfordiana
- From: "" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender "Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx" for DMARC)
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2015 16:20:57 -0500
We are discussing Palma's example of "Padua" (or "Padova" if you mustn't).
Palma's original example indeed involved Padova (or Padua):
Palma writes:
"Padua University is called Padua University exactly
because both Padua City and Padua University exist, and
Padua City got there way before the university and its faculties
came into being."
I'm not sure how much sense we can make about Padua City "getting there".
It may be different from Memphis, TN (or 'different than' Memphis, TN, as
Anderson Cooper prefers).
We are considering
i. Jones went to Padua to study economics.
Omar asks
>Is it possible that there is more than one educational institution in
Padua where economics could be >studied?
In a message dated 2/15/2015 2:57:59 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
palmaadriano@xxxxxxxxx writes:
>at university level, no.
Note that Jones might have gone to Padua to study economics other than at
university level, though.
Indeed, he may have gone to Padua to open a shop and thought it a good
idea 'to "study" [the] economics' of the place before 'getting there'.
It's different from
ii. Grice went to Corpus Christi to study classics.
Because you cannot really open a 'shop' in classics, least so at "The Body
of Christ", as the name of Grice's _alma mater_ literally translates -- He
preferred to call it "The House".
This fits well with Mitford's rules of usage. She says that 'home' is
non-U while 'house' is always ok.
Some examples are tricky for the Mitfordian analysis in terms of
implicature:
iii. He went to Coventry to study philosophy.
iv. He went to Warwick to study philosophy.
It is well known that the University of Warwick is in Coventry, and so,
someone 'not in the know' may get the wrong implicature out of the utterance
("Warwick" means "Warwickshire" in (iv).
But in general, it's best to stick with 'graduate':
v. He graduated from Warwick with a degree in philosophy
means that he graduated, physically, _at_ the village of Coventry, which
is the seat of the University of Warwickshire, from which he obtained the
degree.
Mitford learnt most of this stuff from her father who _knew_.
(He is played in the BBC miniseries by Alan Bates, but Mitford's sister,
the Duchess of Devonshire (who lives in Chatsworth, Derbyshire), found his
acting slightly unconvincing).
Nancy Mitford's essay is her attempt to educate Evelyn Waugh (his wife was
also called Evelyn), who thought he knew but didn't.
Cheers,
Speranza
Ref.:
"Modern Etiquettes for Girls", by Margaret Frankl: The word rich is U;
wealthy is Non-U. Sick is U; ill is Non-U. House is U; home as in 'They live in
a lovely --' is non-U.
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