Notes & Asides - Letter to the Editor

National Review, Nov 11, 2002

-- Dear Bill: It seems to me that politics has become much too solemn anand journalism too self-satisfied. So I am hoping that you will find relief in two pieces of verse.

I confess to authorship of the first. The second was written decades ago by Humbert Wolfe, though he indicts the "British journalist," whereas I have taken the liberty to substitute the "Beltway journalist."

Caligula, they say, was mad,

Which made the Romans very sad.

Where other Caesars buggered boys

Or fed the lions Jews and goys,

Caligula, with no remorse,

Enriched the Senate with his horse.

This precedent is honored still

(Just look about you on the Hill)

Except that now our voting classes

Limit themselves to horses' asses.

And:

You cannot hope to bribe or twist

Thank God! The Beltway journalist.

But, seeing what the man will do

Unbribed, there's no occasion to.

I quoted Wolfe's verse to a friend on the New York Times, but he was not amused.

As ever yours,

Ralph [de Toledano]

Washington, D.C.

--Dear Ralph: Fun! Thanks.

BiBill

-- Dear Mr. Buckley: I'm afraid that Dale E. Elliott (July 29) mimisconceived his question and misdirected his inquiry in his search for the name of a "sort of bad argument."

He should consult Webster's Seventh, which gives several meanings for the word "bless": to hallow or consecrate by religious rite or word; to make the sign of the cross upon; to invoke divine care for; to praise, glorify; to confer prosperity or happiness upon; to protect, preserve.

He should then direct his inquiry to the columnist for the National Episcopal Church newspaper who implied that divorce should be blessed and ask which meaning of the word was intended.

Respectfully,

Kalman I. Nulman

New York, N.Y.

-- Dear Mr. Buckley: My condolences to you and the friends and family ofof Gertrude Vogt (July 15), who sounds-and looks-like a lovely woman.

But, "she went off to live in San Francisco, near to her son in Sacramento"? Don't you mean "near her son" or "close to her son"? "Near to" is oddly omitted from my Fowler's Modern English, but it offends the ear, if not the other senses.

Can near to be, pardon the pun, right?

Yours truly,

Frederic C. Marston

Princeton, N.J.

--Dear Mr. Marston: I dunno, you're a little sneaky, suggesting that FoFowler proscribes near to. Fowler did suggest there was motion here; nearby, in the use of near. "[The] use of near in the sense of 'approximating in kind or degree' has returned to some extent, especially qualifying nouns, e.g., near-beer, near-wool, near- communist. The OED Supp. calls this revival 'chiefly U.S.,' but it is now common in Britain too. It should not be confused with the use of the adjective near in such a phrase as a near miss. A near miss (unhyphenated) is a miss that was nearly a hit; near-beer (hyphenated) is a beverage that professes to be nearly beer."

Your use of Fowler, causing my own visit to the shrine, makes mine a near to perfect day.

Cordially, WFB

-- Dear Mr. Buckley: Re the misuse of "anniversary" (July 15): With nono success whatsoever, I have tried for years to introduce "menseversary" to indicate a monthly recurrence. Perhaps you have a workable idea.

Richard P. Ebbert

Pasadena, Calif.

--Dear Mr. Ebbert: I don't, actually. But with no hard feelings, I dodon't much like yours. Neologisms have to be almost immediately appealing. Maybe that's why you haven't had much luck in popularizing yours.

Cordially,

-WFB