ELAN DOWN-UNDER

It is de-riguer - a hyphen? read on - for us right-wingers to knee-jerkingly ridicule Germaine Greer, but dash it all if I don't find her too damn interesting. Well, interesting apart from The Female Eunuch, which was about as interesting as people who say "that's about as interesting as watching grass grow/paint dry."

Anyway, despite Macquarie Dictionary's dictatorial directives, I'll use my dashes anyway I want them:

Macquarie's mitts all over our supposed Strine

RICHIE Benaud told Leo Schofield not so long ago that he loved the Australian way of using words and was never without Sidney J. Baker's The Australian Language. As an author who is at present enduring the rigours of having her book translated from English into Australian, I swiftly purchased a copy of the second edition.

Comments

[Big Ramifications]

You're using hyphens instead of dashes there, sizzlechest. I am very ANAL about such things.

Most editors [eg. blog comment boxes, gmail] do not differentiate. If I've got time I'll always crank out my spiel in Word where it auto corrects hyphens to dashes if there is a space straight after.

Erm.

Carry on.

[Big Ramifications]

Germaine has made the same mistake. In the first instance of her use of "oops" it is preceded by a dash. In the second instance it is preceded by a hyphen. Sloppy sloppy work.

I seem to recall your buddy at Chase Me Ladies had a link to a picture of Germaine Greer's "gusset." I never realised she nuded-up for the camera.

[Professor Rosseforp]

Interesting comments from Germaine on ockerisms. My favourite author, Robert G. Barrett, uses a lot of them, and is often criticised for it. I think that although "strine" may not be used frequently, there are many people who can understand it, and enjoy hearing it or reading it.
On M. Ramifications' query re Germaine Greer, I noticed a while back that our local musical instrument shop had an old poster advertising guitars. It has a picture of a guy (I think from the Bonzo Dog Doodah Band), with a topless lady behind him. Not too many people, including the proprietor, realised that the lady was Germaine Greer.

[Ann ODyne]

how can Biggy not know of her infamous magazine-cover beaver-portrait?

It is always intellectually safe to be on the same team as of Dr. Professor St. Germaine of Greer, and as she says 'The hyphen cannot be got to toe the line. Too many compounds are too hard to read without it' and since her article uses soft-soap, may I submit that
'soft-soap' implies gentle persuasion*, whereas 'soft soap' has been left in the water too long.

* possibly derived from soaping saddle and tack leather from stiff to pliable.

[Big Ramifications]

Third person singular present indicative active, but deponent, so conjugated like a passive.

We KNOW.

[Tony]

This ain't Latin Land, Biggy Baby.

[Tony]

PS: Look up ELAN in a thesaurus. As I noted up top, I'll use my dashes anyway I want 'em.

[Tony]

NB (singular imperative): deponent verbs look passive but operate active even though they have no active forms.

[Tony]

Prof, I've had a chuckle at the odd Barrett opus, but favourite author?

[Samuel Morse]

I'll use my dashes anyway I want 'em.

What a horrible little troll.

[John "Jack" Phillips]

dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash

Dammit, why isn't anyone responding? I should have never listened to Big Tone.

dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash dash

[Tony]

Dot.

[John Pilger]

Quick! Someone got sad! We must change all immigration laws immediately!!

[Elian Gonzalez]

Hey Jackass. My name is Elian, not Elan.

[Fidel Castro]

That last comment being aimed at Mr Pilger, not Mr Tone.

Hey, if I played the violin, what would be my nickname?

[Professor Rosseforp]

Tony, re Robert G., I think so, although Kinky Friedman is winning me over, book by book.
May I just add that Patrick White is getting so much good press from the Australian newspaper that I suspect they have shares in his literary oeuvre.
It's a tough call to say that White's work is tripe, but I'm prepared to say it's pretty dreadful, and I have read plenty of it.

[Tony]

I have never read any White; not out of any preconceived notion that he writes high-falutin' flannel, but simply because he has never flown into my orbit.

Kinky Friedman has been regularly recommended to me, but I am yet read one of his books.

Closer to home, Peter Temple and Shane Maloney have also been recommended.

And yet, what do I know? I love John Grisham and Michael Crichton.

Historical fiction is my favourite, with ancient Rome, Napoleonic Europe and WWII my favourite eras.

[Professor Rosseforp]

Peter Temple came to me highly recommended, but left with no recommendations from me. I think his editor must be an Ezra Pound-type who decrees that everything must be cut out from the book until it makes no sense.
I'm sure you would like Kinky's word-play, his musings on life, and his downright cynicism. One of my favourite lines: "Whether you see the glass as half-empty or half-full depends on whether you are half-empty or half-full of shit."
In my teens I went through a Mary Renault phase of historical fiction, but in those days I could name Hellenic States, rulers, dates, wars, victors, etc.
Surprisingly, yet to read Grisham or Crichton but have seen some Grisham fillums.
Currently preoccupied with H.G. Wells' non-scifi.

[The Usual Suspect]

Get on the Flashman books, Tone!

[Professor Rosseforp]

Flashman is a very funny series of tomes -- due for a re-visit.

[Tony]

I borrowed from a library the talking book CD of Flashman's first story. It was absolutely brilliant in the car.

[The Usual Suspect]

Who was the narrator?

[Tony]

Rupert Penry-Jones.