TRTR Pt2 C1 Words, they have to have a meaning---p.350

[Paul Mackin]

On 7/31/2011 7:09 PM, Mark Kohut wrote:
> p.350
> No one has (yet) commented on this line I posted and asked if we 
> thought it is to be taken
> straight from Otto or is he 'unreliable", being satirized here....
> Anyway, what do you then think of Brown's instant rejoiner---"Don't 
> you worry abou that. it's\
> right when the idea's missing, the word pops up."......
> Never capital W, Word in gaddis, right, unlike P, but if these obs are 
> 'true' from within TR, what is meant?
> Anything beyond the meaning of his next sentence, "You can do anything 
> with the same words".,....which
> reminds of his stuff on rationality justifying about anything if it 
> tries.....
> Latent kind of pre-verbal natural 'ideas' in life concept, when, if 
> missing, leads about any words to be
> rationalization?


Reading conversations in Gaddis is at times (a lot of times) like 
listening to a recording made of a late night party conversation.

People are tired or a little drunk. They don't make much sense. Still 
you kind of know what they were talking about.

Brown is trying to help Otto with the plagiarism problem with the least 
expenditure of energy on Brown's part.  Brown is busy and trying to do 
something else.  His reply is  minimal. Just change a few words around, 
he suggests.

But Otto, who imagines himself a  respecter of words,  says that doing 
as Brown suggests would affect the meaning.  He uses the truism, words 
have meaning. Otto apparently hasn't any confidence in his ability to 
paraphrase satisfactorily.

Brown doesn't put much effort into  his reassurance. His reply by any 
standard of spoken English is meaningless. But standards don't always 
apply. The thrust is clear enough.  Adequate alternative wording will 
occur to Otto as needed, if he doesn't try to get too creative.  And it 
doesn't matter anyway. The result will be good enough.

P








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