Notes and Asides

National Review, July 23, 2001

--Memo to: WFB

From: Rich

I think our readers will want to have the big news about Jay Nordlinger. He won the Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism.

The award is made by the News Corporation, and was presented at a ceremony by Rupert Murdoch and Lally Weymouth. It is given annually in honor of the company's late editor and executive, our old friend Eric Breindel. It is rumored to be the most lucrative ($10,000) award in journalism and is given to the journalist who exemplifies the "spirit" of Eric Breindel: one who demonstrates "love of country and its democratic institutions" and who "bears witness to the evils of totalitarianism."

Jay won the award for writings having to do with race relations, Cuba, China, Bob Jones University, and patriotism.

--Dear Mr. Buckley: Upon reading your book Let Us Talk of Many Things, I came across a little gem of historical repetition.

On page 285, you recall then-Vice President Walter Mondale remarking that Mr. Reagan's proposed tax cuts would enable the wealthy to buy a new Mercedes, while a teacher could buy only a hubcap. Sound familiar? Replace Mercedes with Lexus and hubcap with muffler. Apparently this bit of rhetorical flourish is something that crops up every two decades.

Using that timetable, I expect to hear it again in 2020 when Mayor Richard Lowry of New York City runs for the GOP presidential nomination.

What will it be then, a BMW and an oil change?

Bryan G. Stewart

Winter Park, Fla.

--Dear Mr. Buckley: Regarding your response to Mr. Harry R. Schaub of Mobile in "Notes & Asides" (April 2 issue) that you did not know how we got the abbreviation "Mr.," it is short for "Master," just as "Mrs." comes from "Mistress." The derivation of "Mr." is equivalent to the Spanish Sr., which is short for Senor. The plural of "Mr." is "Messrs.," though some say this should be employed only in describing brothers. I disagree, as such a neat form should be used whenever possible.

We owe this plural to the French, as it is short for Messieurs, the plural of Monsieur, which is abbreviated M. The plural for "Mrs." also comes from the French: "Mesdames." Sadly, I seem to be the only person ever to use that form.

I do have some consolation, however, in that you have given me a chance to show off, and thus prove this information is not completely useless.

Yours very truly,

Michael O. Eshleman

Kings Mills, Ohio

Dear Mr. Eshleman: Thanks for the enlightenment.

Cordially, WFB

--Dear Mr. Buckley: Nearly four years have passed, but still the memory haunts me.

I had settled into my Emirates Air jetliner, departing Sri Lanka after a tour of duty at our embassy in Colombo. Sri Lanka is a lovely country, but journalistic standards there are execrable. Thinking that my latest copy of NR would offer an antidote to four years of mangled prose, I was aghast to read that so-and-so was "hung by the neck until dead" (not "hanged").

I felt at that moment that the world offered no firm ground on which to stand. This solecism cut me loose from all cherished standards of grammar. Psychologists believe that "repressed memories" should not be bottled up. In that spirit, I unburden myself to you in the hope that you will advise me how best to "move on."

Is it too late to chastise the offending editor? Should I seek professional help?

Sincerely,

William C. Dawson Jr.

Lexington, Va.

Dear Mr. Dawson: I agree, but the rule is not absolute, viz., "Frontier courts hung a lot of people without an extensive trial." But we'll keep our eyes open.

Cordially,

-WFB