Chamfrained?

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Say Again?
 

“I recently read Vladimir Nabokov’s autobiographical masterpiece Speak, Memory. One learns there that Nabokov read in English before reading in his native Russian. Having said that, his embrace of what I would still call his second language is dizzying and unrelenting. Here are a few of his words that I wrote down: ‘fritillary,’ ‘chamfrained,’ ‘ghyll,’ and ‘laciniate.’ Now you know why God invented the Oxford English Dictionary.” 

 —Alex Beam, “Confessions of a Word Snob,” The New York Times, April 29, 2013  

• Editorial Comment: Dizzying, indeed.
PeezPIX by Ted Pease
 

Trinidad Bay paddlers




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(Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff

TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM is a free “service” sent to the 1,800 or so misguided volunteer subscribers around the planet. If you have recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: While I just quote ’em, I don't necessarily endorse ’em. All contain at least a kernel of insight. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff
Utah State University, Logan, Utah, & Humboldt State University, Arcata, Calif.

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“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard
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