>I was ready to let this go, but Kev's post annoyed
me....My post was
>about language and how it is commonly used, here and
in
>Europe...Funny how none of that sifted down to Kev's
rebuttal.
Or anyone else's, evidently. Actually most of your original
post could be seen as more about culture than language
(although, of course, language is a big -- but not the only
-- part of culture), and your theory of how Americans have an
innate natural understanding of hard-boiled that Europeans
don't. Certainly, it wasn't just me who zeroed in on
statements like this:
>Hardboiled...is something uniquely American. I am no
Jingoist, but
>facts is facts. Nobody has ever done it better, and
nobody ever will.
>HB's an American thing. (Euros writers) wouldn't
understand. And,
>most likely, neither
>would their readers.
But if you want me to comment on language, you did
write:
> From the purest technical standpoint, hardboiled is
skeletonized language. We
>(Americans) can get away with it, because our
linguistic history is one of
>abbreviation.
But I'm not so sure hard-boiled has to necessarily rely on
skeletonized brevity of language to achieve its goal.
Certainly Hammett's and most of Cain's prose is spare and
lean, but the prose of Chandler and particularly Macdonald
often went on non-abbreviated flights of poetic fancy, full
of similes and metaphors. Of course, the fact neither was
principally educated in the States, or ever felt completely,
comfortably American, may have something to do with it.
I agree, though, that this is not (or should not be) some
sort of nationalistic scrambling for scavenger-hunt points.
Flag-waving is still too often the last refuge for
scoundrels. Or is that patriotism?
Sorry for annoying you, Paul -- it wasn't my intent.
Kevin
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