MDMD2: The Learned English Dog

[Dave Monroe]

"All at once, out of the Murk, a dozen mirror'd Lanthorns have leapt alight 
together, as into their Glare now strolls a somewhat dishevel'd Norfolk 
Terrier, with a raffish Gleam in its eye,--" (M&D, Ch. 3, p. 18)

>From William Empson, The Structure of Complex Words (Norfolk [!], CN: New 
Directions, 1951), Ch. 7, "The English Dog," pp. 158-74 ...

"From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries a number of English words, 
arch, rogue, fool, honest, dog and so forth, went through a cycle of curious 
slang or 'emotive' uses that invoke patronage, irony and sympathy, and 
though we still give them slang uses we shall keep on the whole to the last 
stage of the cycle.  It seems to me important, as a matter of history, to 
understand how the cycle went, because a man tends finally to make up his 
mind, in a practical question of human relations, much more in terms of 
these vague rich intimate words than in the clear words of his official 
language.  Also they are interesting words for linguistic theory or plain 
dictionary-making, because some of their uses get a strong 'period' feeling 
....  One is in doubt how far the period feeling was genuinely put into the 
word, as its meaning in this special use, how far we imagine it there by 
association whereas during the period the feeling was simply everywhere--it 
comes out for us in this word only through a rival use that makes it 
evident.  So that once you let yourself 'read things into' these words they 
seem to mean a great deal; indeed absurdly too much, except that this gives 
you a handy way of summing up part of the thought of the period, and an 
insight into the way that this part came to seem obviously true because 
always suggested by the language.  Also I think that this family of words 
carried an interesting and controversial part.  It is a commonplace that the 
formulae of a religion like Christianity or Buddhism may be interpreted in 
many ways, some exalted, some merely civilizing, some definitely harmful, 
and that when actively at work in a society they form a kind of shrubbery of 
smaller ideas, which may be the most important part of their influence, yet 
which also may be a half-conscious protest against the formulae, a means of 
keeping them at bay.  There is a main puzzle for the linguist about how much 
is 'in' a word and how much in the general purpose of those who use it, but 
it is this shrubbery, a social and not very conscious matter, sometimes in 
conflict with organized opinion, that one would expect to find only able to 
survive because somehow inherent in their words.  This may be an important 
matter for a society, because its accepted official beliefs may be things 
that would be fatal unless in some degree kept at bay.... The web of 
European civilization seems to have been slung between the ideas of 
Christianity and those of a half-secret rival, centring [sic] perhaps (if 
you made it a system) round honour; one that stresses pride rather than 
humility, self-realization rather than self-denial, caste rather than either 
the communion of saints or the individual soul; while the words I want to 
look at here, whether in their hearty of their patronizing versions, come 
somewhat between the two, for they were used both to soften the assertion of 
class and to build a defence against Puritanism." (pp. 158-9)

Wow,  Okay, I've got to catch my breath here.  "A cycle of curious slang or 
'emotive' uses that invoke patronage, irony and sympathy," "these vague rich 
intimate words" vs. "the clear words of his official language," "a strong 
'period' feeling," "only through a rival use that makes it evident," "once 
you let yourself 'read things into' these words they seem to mean a great 
deal; indeed absurdly too much," "this family of words carried an 
interesting and controversial part," "Christianity or Buddhism," "a kind of 
shrubbery of smaller ideas ... which also may be a half-conscious protest 
against the formulae, a means of keeping them at bay," "accepted official 
beliefs may be things that would be fatal unless in some degree kept at 
bay," "The web of European civilization seems to have been slung between the 
ideas of Christianity and those of a half-secret rival" (!!--e.g., Thurn und 
Taxis vs. Trystero?  Though sounds rather like Nietzsche contra Christianity 
here ...), "to soften the assertion of class and to build a defence against 
Puritanism" (!!) ... Laydeez and Jentz, I think we've found a gen-u-wine 
Clue here.  And I haven't even gotten to the "dog" bit yet ...


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