[lit-ideas] Re: More Bloopers from Students and the Morality of It All
- From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 10:34:50 -0800
On Nov 29, 2007, at 6:50 AM, Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx wrote:
D. Ritchie has J. M. Geary pouring scorn on one of D. Ritchie's
(female?) students,
who mispelt 'valour' as 'veleur'.
I wrote a long post, so far uncommented, on the intelligence of the
girl, and the bad taste
on people -- who were not there -- to pour scorn on a mistake that
was possibly due
to D. Ritchie pronouncing Buchan aloud (in Scots) and the girl
being a native
Oregonian.
Veleur is related to 'lure' and allure (in one reading of allure)
-- so the girl was being (perhaps unconsciously) being witty (if
not 'gentile').
She wrote "velour," a reference to a kind of material here associated
with nineteen seventies exercise outfits and the seats of dining
chairs. I thought it was a wonderfully rich error, a typo (of the
sort we all commit) that conjured amusing pictures.
David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon
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