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More Words, Deeper Hole

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james_nicoll
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I was born in Canada, learned English in the UK, learned English again in Canada and aside from various trips abroad have spent most of my adult life in Kitchener, Ontario. I ran a hobby shop for 17 years and now am a free-lance book reviewer and game editor, occupations that have taught me how to budget.

The title of the LJ comes from something my exgf used to say to me on occasions when by supplying too much information to clerks I managed to smother all hope of useful communication. The bookshelf expedition that involved the term "gabled" and a discussion of early 1900s architecture was probably the low point, although what I was driving at still seems so clear to me.

I suppose if I were hopelessly laconic, that would be "terse is worse".

Back in 1990, I made this comment:

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."

* Usenet article <1990May15.155309.8892@watdragon.waterloo.edu> (1990),

Much to my surprise, that was my fifteen minutes of fame. It's been quoted around the world, on BBC and in Chinese ESL texts. Most of the products with that phrase on it or a paraphrase have nothing to do with me and I don't see a penny from them. The sole source of such goods actually connected to me is my cafepress site.

A NOTE TO WRITERS: Most of the work I get involves reading manuscripts for Direct Brands (Formerly Bookspan), who own such imprints as the Science Fiction Book Club. If you notice that I have mentioned seeing your book six months ahead of publication, this would be how.

Messages sent my in-box will be treated as public if I think that is appropriate.

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