[ExI] quote of the day - on fame

[Dan TheBookMan]

On Mar 25, 2016, at 1:29 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> >… didn't mean the French in her poem. Yes, given the word 'frog,' one might jump to that association. (It's a little surprising given that 'frog' is a derogatory term in that context…
>  
>  
> Indeed?  I had not heard that.  I always assumed that associating a people with a favored unusual food was fair game.  It isn’t racist in any way, it is a choice.  What is the French equivalent of Yank?  I don’t consider Yankee a derogatory term, and coming up with a favored food for USians is tricky.  Hamburgers?  Hot dogs?  Doesn’t everyone eat those?  We sometimes refer to the Brits as limeys, but I can imagine they would wear that one with pride because of where it originated.  They don’t devour more limes than anyone else I don’t think.
>  
> Every nationality needs a nickname of some sort, just to show they are good sports, ja?  Foods seem safe to me.  Still don’t have one for USians.

That might be how you feel about these things, but it seems to me that the context the term arose in -- whether naming them after a good or after the way their symbol appeared -- was not meant as quaint or playful or just an easy substitute for another word, but as an insult.

Of course, dysphemisms often lose their sting, which is why new ones tend to be generated, no? I'm not sure, by the way, is 'frog' has lost its sting, and I wouldn't use in most contexts.

And, again, I don't believe Dickinson had that in mind. I certainly find it to be a hard to accept interpretation rereading the poem again. (Nothing terrible in misinterpreting anything either.) And I think she might be taken aback by that interpretation. This, again, is based on my reading about her.

Regards,

Dan
  Sample my Kindle books via:
http://author.to/DanUst

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