reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic - arse?

There is a considerable amount of discussion over the use of language - written, spoken and in a wider context. An article in the New Scotsman exposes an appalling lack of standards in the educational sphere(1). Professor Frank Furedi argues much the same in his book 'Where have all the intellectuals gone ?', lamenting the lack of indepth, intellectual inquiry and lack of discipline(2). When I go to amazon to see a book of interest I'm frequently surprised that there are no customer reviews. All testimony to the fact that we are not paying perhaps as much attention as we should. Yet we supposedly have more free time than ever before. So what's amiss?

Some say we move too fast. Texting and computers have been said to have undermined correct english - gr8, lol, ect, etc . Maybe, but the kids can multitask like no other and hold adult conversations when it suits. Ok, so the writing isn't always spot on but then they could become Doctors.

Back2Basics? The three 'r's give it away from the start - who's fooling who?
I wouldn't profess to know the ins and outs of the discussion - that's best left to the experts. An embarassing moment was when talking to a workmate, I strung a sentence together and for some reason ended up banging in loads of 'big' words (many of them in context). Lordy, am I clever! The reply? - 'I don't know what you're saying, but I know what you mean'. Shoot me down in flames. Anyway, that was a long time ago and we were very drunk at the time.

When in the sixth form rumour had it that one of our english Tutors had written a forty page essay on The letter a. I tried to fathom this out - its uses in singular form, colloquialism, dialect and influence in words and sound - a cat sat on a mat, open wide, say 'aaaahh'? 40 pages? go on, Sir!, but not for me. As much as I'd like to read the good man's work there is way too much to absorb already.

Every locale seems to have it's paper or papers, the papershops are stuffed full of magazines showing stuff that we may get to do fleetingly, selling dreams or just talking shite, everywhere sells books and yesteryear's news was the day after's underlay - all very fascinating and enough choice for everyone. Plus internet, blog, junkmail and all that stuff from various councils. Let alone rereading old 'favourites' or books not understood first time around.

The spoken and written word (those for others or to be viewed again L8r) - the presented word? - can do many things and some that the presenter is unaware of at the time. One can either strike lucky - a case of a positive direction and all the lights are green. And then sometimes one overcooks it and suffers a proverbial egg.
One that thankfully went astray from yours truly was an early attempt at a critique of a spirited club singer. Many things about the evening acted on what I felt at the time and the resulting review turned out to be a thinly veiled missive to an ex- missus. Thankfully that one's 'buried' now but one really must be careful.

What of Eminem? the staccato rap attack of in-yer-face provocation. He is whatever you say he is and if you call him he will chew it up and spit it back at you. And make a few bucks at the same time.
Sometimes you don't need words. A patient in a psychiatric unit once introduced me to the lulting* rhythm of Mendelssohn and Fingal's cave. I could feel what he meant.

Then of course there's politicians, comedians and word association football. Not to mention spoonerism - half heard words that you thought you heard but weren't sure.

Messing about with language extends the use of words and their meanings. A deft choice of word or subtle omission can carry deeper resonance than at first understood or the orator's take can be the result of chinese whispers. A colleague once complained that he could shit in the eye of an eagle. I was impressed.

Anglo-saxon verbiage is said to have been particularly coarse. Retrospective actions by the Victorians to clean up the language resulted in many name and language changes including the whitearse to the wheatear (2).

Call me a philistine but with so much to choose from it's difficult to pick the 'right' book(s) - and I don't mean those to be seen reading - the work that inspires, educates or encourages one to think afresh. Harder to read and absorb than your average novel, autobiography or eyewitness account these require quality attention, note taking and discussion - worth the effort.

Unfortunately, for those of us that would like to see the world a better place, there is no shortcut. My own stumbling forays into the world of politics have been hampered by this. Sure, an individual can offer insights or play a bit part but winning arguments requires study and the development of intellectual stamina.

Must try harder.


(1) http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1959942005
(2)http://www.birdsofbritain.co.uk/features/bird-names.htm
* Quite possibly should be 'lilting' but can't bring myself to change it. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=lilting m/e root 'lulten'.