Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Username

wisemeredith

Member Since

August 19, 2010

Total number of comments

1

Total number of votes received

9

Bio

Latest Comments

“Anglish”

  • August 19, 2010, 11:49am

English will never be purged of Latinity. Words like "agglutinate" (and "lamp" and "butter" [both ultimately Greek, actually!] and "story" and "passion") are part of the language, here to stay. We would be so much poorer without these wonderful words.

Still, "Anglish" is healthy and useful as a tendency and a touchstone. English poets have found it particularly useful. Gerard Manley Hopkins was interested in this movement back in the 19th cen., and the results for his poetry were spectacular. Seamus Heaney specializes in unearthing the Saxon roots of Ulster words he grew up with. JRR Tolkien was nostalgic for a pre-1066 English, and his prose is always mindfull of the strata of English. He was able to revive certain nifty words like "mathom", for which I at least am grateful.