On Language and Culture

JOSÉ VILLACÍS

2011-01-06T04:16:00.000-08:00

For matters private, I do not read contemporary literature in either language. Today´s novel does not whet my cultural or aesthetic appetite. The classics are still there, time-proven, time-tried and, better still, timeless... So why venture, tread, into the unknown? Why waste my limited attention span on starting authors who have yet to prove themselves and their value? I hold steadfast to my beliefs... but -luckily- now and then, just to see what´s going on around me, I open a new publication.
I chanced upon NO VOLVERÉ by José Villacís, a Spaniard and academic, and I leafed through this novel and what I read here and there made me go to the beginning pages and breeze through it. Academics are usually prigs who write for other prigs. This is not the case here, God be praised! I recommend this work of fiction to the American bilingual discerning reader who will have a taste of excellent contemporary Spanish narrative.
José Villacís, NO VOLVERÉ, (Madrid: Entrelineas, 2010).

APRENDER Y MANEJAR UN IDIOMA MÁS

2011-01-04T04:21:00.000-08:00

Aprender un idioma y dominarlo bien, con soltura y a todos los niveles, incluso el propio no es cuestión baladí. Pero ya nos decía Spinoza que todo lo bueno es difícil de conseguir. De no ser así, todos seríamos políglotas. Pero, como siempre, muchos son los llamados y pocos los elegidos... simplemente porque unos hacen el esfuerzo y otros, la mayoría, no se molestan.
Aprender un idioma bien, incluso el propio, es posible... y nos abre las puertas a nuevas maneras de pensar, de acceder a otras culturas, a otras aventuras educativas o espirituales. La inversión de tiempo vale la pena.
Hagamos ese esfuerzo todos y dediquemos unos minutos cada día a mejorar y adquirir más francés, inglés, castellano, urdu... el idioma que sea. Saber dos idiomas redobla nuestras posibilidades. Hablar tres las triplica.
¿Vamos a intentarlo?
Ánimo.

MAGABUSINESS - Intereconomia business TV

2010-12-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

Check this:
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.intereconomia.com%2Fprograma%2Ffilologo-excelencia-del-magabusiness-delfin-carbonell&h=9f498

Chasing the American Dream

2010-12-01T02:28:00.000-08:00

The great lexicographer Hugh Rawson who, by the way, favors me with his kind friendship, has started a new career as a blogger (whatever that may mean) and I would like to suggest you visit his place at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hugh-rawson/chasing-the-american-drea_b_782503.html.
Chasing the American Dream is a very good essay on this subject. My last visit to the States made me think that a nightmare is looming somewhere in the background... but I am getting old and, as you now, old people dote and have foolish impressions of reality.
Let me know what you think.

Lapsed ito forgetfulness

2010-11-29T05:49:00.000-08:00

I have lapsed into forgetfulness, almost oblivion, I admit, but recent books have kept me very busy. Books are not difficult to write, but they take time. But excuses begone! I will be in touch again from now on.

JOSÉ MARÍA CARRASCAL / JOSÉ ORTEGA Y GASSET

2010-05-28T00:48:00.000-07:00

Ortega y Gasset was and is, I think, one of the most important thinkers of the last century. It is well known that Spaniards are not much given to write about themselves, to publish memoirs, autobiographies or collected letters, unlike the English who love to expose their private lives and those of their friends. Ortega tried to start some sort of an autobiography but gave up after the second page. José María Carrascal has just written Autobiografía apócrifa de Ortega y Gasset, Marcial Pons, 2010, where he tries to show the inner Ortega as he appears in his own writings. This book is so recent that I have not yet had a chance to read it. But I wanted to let you know because both are fascinating characters. I am sure it's going to become a must-read. I'll keep you posted.

PEDRO ÁLVAREZ DE MIRANDA

2010-04-23T03:22:00.000-07:00

I am sorry to inform my American friends that this guy Pedro Álvarez de Miranda has been elected to the Real Academia Española, on the sole merit of having written one book, up to 2006. One, only one: Palabras e ideas: el léxico de la ilustración temprana en España (1680-1760) and published by the Academia itself, where he was working as a printer's devil or something of the sort.
Have you ever heard of a painter who cannot produce a single painting to show his art? Here we have a wordsmith who's never composed a dictionary and yet he is considered a lexicographer.
You have guessed right: I own it I have a bone to pick with this servile sycophant, this flunky, this fawner.

Dr. John Simpson - Editor-in-Chief, OED.

2010-04-11T03:02:00.001-07:00

FOREWORD

By John Simpson
University of Oxford

My introduction to Spanish proverbs occurred when I was working on the letter A for the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs. The earliest piece of evidence I had for the proverb It takes all sorts to make a world came from Thomas Shelton’s seventeenth-century English translation of Don Quixote: ‘In the world there must bee of all sorts’. I think the information has stuck with me all these years because I wasn’t expecting the first reference to an English proverb to come from a Spanish source. I’m not sure why I wasn’t expecting this: after all, English (at least since the Norman Conquest) shares much of its proverb heritage with the countries of continental Europe. But following the trail of many words, I imagined that we would find early references to English proverbs in Latin, or in French, rather than in Spanish.

But this European heritage of proverbs is strong. Many exist in parallel in a number of European languages, as the records of these languages show. Proverbs often arise as a response to the trials and tribulations of human existence, and the European experience meant that a proverb that was relevant to Spaniards, or to the French, may well be equally relevant to the English. It took me several years more to realize that proverbs often arise from adversity. They are often a traditional, stoic response to something that has gone wrong. ‘Oh well, don’t worry: it takes all sorts to make a world’. Not always, but often enough for the proverb to have a significant role in consolation.

Delfin Carbonell’s careful review of the modern proverb in Spanish and English investigates the history of our proverbs, and elucidates their meaning (which is not always as clear-cut as one might expect). Proverbs date from the earliest documentary records and have survived right up to the present-day. They still have a function in contemporary society (how often do they crop up in newspaper headings or in chapter titles, for example?). They connect us with our past, with the thoughts and emotions that our predecessors experienced in situations curiously similar to ours today. And Dr Carbonell is right to draw our attention to the need to work from primary source material. There is a bad old tradition in dictionary writing whereby proverbs are handed down from lexicographer (dictionary-writer) to lexicographer, and this dictionary record can in some cases outlive the existence of the proverb itself in actual speech. By concentrating on living testimony to the proverb (whether in modern books or newspapers, or even on the Internet), today’s editor can highlight those proverbs which are really current today, and can screen out (because of lack of evidence) those proverbs which have drifted out of use and into obsolescence. This necessity to cite real, contextual examples underpins all proper scholarly work in lexicography, and informs sound popular texts based on these. Readers often do dictionary-makers the honour of believing what they write, and so it behoves the dictionary-writer to get things right in the first place.

I shall be interested to see what success the present editor has with his unialphabetical system. As far as I am aware, it is an innovation in bilingual paroemiology (as pedants call proverb study). Any system which forces information on us in a new way is worthy of consideration. Advances in knowledge come from breaking the traditional bounds, and seeing links where they have not been recognized before.

John Simpson
Oxford
April 2004

2010-04-11T02:54:00.000-07:00

Unialphabet – Sample Entries

THE NEW DICTIONARY OF CURRENT SAYINGS AND PROVERBS, SPANISH AND ENGLISH

with citations from all English-speaking countries

APPLE

An apple a day keeps the doctor away – una manzana al día de(l) médico te ahorraría.

— “A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play: The sing-song slogan, so similar to an apple a day keeps the doctor away, was discarded by Mars after 40 years...” Independent, Aug 2, 2004. UK. || “Routine chores: I view using Defrag on a Windows machine as the computer world's equivalent of an apple a day to keep the doctor away.” Palm Beach Daily News, FL, Aug 2, 2004. US. || “She also wrote that while eating an apple a day might keep the doctor away, eating an onion a day would probably keep everybody away.” The Southern Illinoisan, IL, Jul 29, 2004. US. [a Dicho muy popular en inglés que tiene un poso de verdad ya que la manzana es una fruta muy saludable. La equivalencia castellana que ofrezco aparece en varios refraneros pero es, como se ve en MANZANA, traducción del inglés. La coletilla añadida al refrán por el Southern Illinosian es de Graffitti: Two Thousand Years of Wall Writing, 1971.]

The rotten apple injures its neighbors – la manzana podrida pierde (pudre) a su compañía.

— “But one bad apple can spoil the whole barrel.” D. McKenzie, Raven Feathers his Nest, 1979. UK. || “We do have blighted properties in a given block -- and blight, like a rotten apple in a basket, can spread. You've got to nip it in the bud.” CNI Newspapers, WI, 16 Jan 2004. US. || “School. Many students choose to excel in academics or sports. A few rotten apples do not always spoil the whole bunch.” Henderson Daily Dispatch, NC, May 24 2004. US. [a De origen latino: “pomum compuctum cito corrumpit sibi junctum.” Existe cita de 1340. Su uso ha decaído aunque existen variantes, como la de la segunta citación que se aporta.]

APRENDER

Nunca es tarde para aprender – never too old to learn.

— “¿El magisterio? No es que me vea dando clases a niños dentro de unos años, pero creo que nunca es tarde para aprender.” El Correo Digital (Álava), 13/12/2003. Esp. || “El disco tiene su música como banda de sonido, es más orgánico. Nunca es tarde para aprender.” El Tiempo, 14/8/2004. Colom. || “Nunca es tarde para aprender, puede ser el lema del mexicano Juan José Ortiz Montuy, quien a sus 86 años obtuvo una maestría en Ciencia Política...” La Nación, 15/8/2004. Venzl. || “... de su edad, sabe ya que con voluntad, decisión y dedicación, es posible retardar la natural involución del cerebro, que nunca es tarde para aprender y que...” Revista Cambio, 1/8/2004. Esp. [a Séneca, Epistolae LXXVI “tamdiu discendum est, quandiu nescias: si proverbio credimus, quandiu vivas...” Older people are always whining about their incapacity to learn. It’s probably a question of laziness more than age.]

► LORO Loro viejo no aprende a hablar

APRENDIZ

Aprendiz de todo, maestro (profesional) de nada – Jack of all trades, master of none.

— “Trata en lo personal, sin esforzarse demasiado, de mejorar al leerse la imagen interior que tiene de sí. Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada, no se empeña en buscar giros ampulosos y alambicados.” Augusto Roa Bastos, Vigilia del Almirante, 1992. Para. || “No es admisible un superfedatario omnipresente, conocedor de todo y maestro de nada.” El Mundo, 22/11/1994. Esp. || “El reportero es un aprendiz de todo y un maestro de nada.” El Mundo, 15/3/1996. Esp. || “Raphael es un aprendiz de todo y profesional de nada, siempre que se me ve he logrado ser un poco mejor que la ocasión anterior...” La Prensa, 5/6/2004. Nicar. [a Those who try to learn many trades end up being masters of none.]

APRETAR

► ABARCAR Quien mucho abarca, poco aprieta

APRIL

April showers bring forth May flowers – marzo ventoso y abril lluvioso traen a mayo florido y hermoso.

— “April showers may or may not have brought May flowers. In case they haven't, why not plant a few yourself?” Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH, 9 Jan 2004. US. || “... stop raining? Who can care that April showers bring May flowers, that there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?” Washington Post, DC, 2 Jan 2004. US. [a Una variante es “April showers bring May flowers”, ya desde 1560 y que sigue muy vigente en la actualidad. Existe en varios idiomas europeos. Tras la adversidad viene la buena fortuna, las flores y el buen tiempo.]

Unialphabet

2010-04-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

I have created a Unialphabet system of classification for bilingual wordbooks, which blends both language together (in my case English and Spanish) into one single body of facts rather than employing the traditional two-part method. I believe this has several advantages over the old system: The user can go straight to the word, not minding whether he is in the English or the Spanish part, making it easier to check words or expressions in either language. This can be seen in my A Spanish and English Dictionary of Idioms and in my The New Dictionary of Current Sayings and proverbs, Spanish and English, both published by Ediciones del Serbal, Barcelona.

Vila-Matas, Joyce and Dublin.

2010-04-10T02:42:00.000-07:00

Ana Tarrat was telling me about her trip to Dublin over the Easter holiday and per usual one thing led to another and I mentioned Enrique Vila-Matas's new novel Dublinesca, about this publisher who visits the capital of Ireland to pay some sort of a tribute to James Joyce... and here's the rub: she had never heard of James Joyce or his novel. That raised some red flags in my tiny brain. A college educated Spaniard didn't know about one of the most popular books of the 20th century. So I also asked Antonio Raimondo who confirmed that the author of Ulysses was also unknown to him. And I asked many more... and the result was the same. I bring this up because I find it so shocking... Such discoveries make me falter. Also, does Vila-Matas speak English that well to plunge into Ulysses and Dublin and the leprechaun culture? I guess he does.

Víctor García de la Concha - RAE Satrap.

2010-02-24T03:57:00.000-08:00

Mockingly I have been saying for years to all and sundry, to all poor devils within earshot, that I am naïve. But now, at this stage of the game, my game, I have come to realize the real extent of my naïveté: I vied for the Real Academia Española Prize for a philological research book TWICE, not once, but TWICE!
No small feat: I had to convince three members of the Academia to back me up, to ratify my work.
And here is where my naïveté comes in: Why on damnation did I ever think I would get the Prize? Knowing the director, Víctor García de la Concha -who had to award the prize- a true dictator who runs the Academy as Chaves runs his country, why on earth did I ever consider making a fool of myself?
The 2009 Prize has been awarded to a Nicaraguan. That is fine and dandy. But, and get a load of this, it has NOT been announced in Spain yet, almost 5 months later! No announcement, no press release, no posts on the Webpage. Mum's the word.
I guess that García de la Concha and his clique, his henchmen, feel embarrassed about their wheeling and dealing.
Sour grapes, you think? Who knows.

FRANCISCO PÉREZ GANDUL - CELDA 211

2010-02-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

Spain is still a country ruled over by cliques which smother all chances of true expression and relevance. This may sound hard but that's the way things stand and to think otherwise would be nothing but wishful thinking.
Francisco Pérez Gandul wrote a novel, Celda 211, a few years ago and after many rejections he found a publisher. Reviews were tepid, lukewarm, but his faith in it lead him to try to have it made into a movie.
And the other day, against all odds, the film -Celda 211- won 8 Goyas, the equivalent of US Oscars, and was cheered and applauded by all as the best film of the year, in a hall packed with actors, directors, politicians... but my friend, the author, Francisco Pérez Gandul was not there. He was in Seville, at home, watching the show on TV. He had not been invited to attend.

Pittsburgh, Presidents and Languages

2009-09-27T01:21:00.000-07:00

Two Presidents: Obama -I admire- and Zapatero -from Spain, I despise- have visited Pittsburgh, Pa. these last few days, and neither -just my luck- speak languages. I mention this because Pittsburgh homes my Alma Mater, Duquesne University, and the University of Pittsburgh, where I was taught English, Spanish anbd French, among other things. What a travesty of an international meeting!

In the XIX Century educated people spoke languages as a matter of course. Peruse Mann's Death in Venice where at the hotel von Aschenbach hears all the educated European languages.
Today more than ever the mastery of languages is a must, as I have written in my El laberinto del idioma inglés, which I recommend, of course.
And while we are at it, I also recommend Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh, to all those who wish to pursue a serious - a no-nonsense- education.

El idioma inglés y su laberinto

2009-07-23T00:53:00.000-07:00

I put together and published El laberinto del idioma inglés, hoja de ruta as an answer and guide to and for Spaniards seeking to learn the English language.
If you happen to be a Spaniard studying English, may I recommend this book that will help you in your quest? In it you will find a lot of practical advice that will answer many of your questions about language learning in general. You will read: 1, Learning and mastering a foreign language IS possible. 2. Spaniards are not linguistically handicapped. 3. It's impossible to pick up a language in ten days. 4. A lot of hard work is needed. 5. Grammar and study are the easiest and fastest way to learn. 6. Beware of language quacks and charlatans. 7. Languages pave the way to culture, and perhaps jobs.
Read it and you will learn a few things about languages and it will save you time and effort.

http://www.ed-serbal.es/

2009-03-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

In Ediciones del Serbal (http://www.ed-serbal.es/ and http://www.ed-serbal.es/listado.asp?familia=Diccionarios&idfamilia=62) you'll find information about most of my books, along with reviews, interviews and even videos. Check their web page whenever you have a minute to spare. Thank you.

Contact:

2009-03-11T23:47:00.000-07:00

By the way, my address is: delfincarbonellatyahoo.com, just in case. (Of course, change the "at" to @, naturally).

Latest photograph

2009-03-11T23:33:00.000-07:00

Picture taken last August in Alicante, Spain.

My Bibliography / Mi bibliografía

2009-03-11T23:28:00.000-07:00

Important publications / Publicaciones importantes: Books/libros

· La novelística de J. A. de Zunzunegui (Dos Continentes)
· Edition of Los amantes de Teruel de Hartzenbusch (Anaya)
· Diccionario malsonante, inglés y castellano (Istmo, 1992)
· A Phraseological Dictionary, English and Spanish (Ediciones del Serbal, 1995)
· Dictionary of Proverbs, English and Spanish, (Ediciones del Serbal, 1996 and Barron’s Educational Series, 1998, N.Y. Special Award for Bilingual Lexicography, Universidad de Extremadura, Spain)
· A Spanish and English Dictionary of Slang And Unconventional Language, with a foreword by Camilo José Cela (Ediciones del Serbal, 1997)
· Gran diccionario de argot. Foreword by Luis María Anson, Spanish Royal Academy. (Larousse, 2000; McGraw-Hill, Chicago, November, 2002.)
· Diccionario panhispánico de refranes de autoridades, with a foreword by Alonso Zamora Vicente, Spanish Royal Academy, (Editorial Herder, November, 2002.)
· English in Action. First Year. English for Spanish speakers. (Serbal, Oct. 2002)
· English in Action. Second Year. English for Spanish speakers. (Serbal,Oct. 2002)
· English in Action. Third Year. English for Spanish speakers. (Serbal, Oct. 2002)
· English in Action. Fourth Year. English for Spanish speakers. (Serbal, Oct. 2003)
· A Shorter Colloquial Dictionary English and Spanish, Foreword by Hugh Rawson. (Serbal, Jan.2004)
· A Spanish and English Dictionary of Idioms, Foreword by Edward Gates (Serbal, June, 2004).
· The New Dictionary of Current Sayings and Proverbs, Spanish and English, Foreword by Dr. John Simpson, Editor in Chief, Oxford English Dictionary (Serbal, 2005)
· Diccionario de clichés (Foreword by José Jiménez Lozano, Premio Cervantes 2002, Ed. del Serbal, 2006.)
· Diccionario sohez (Foreword by Luis María Anson, Serbal, 2007; 2nd. Ed. 2008)
· Diccionario panhispánico de citas, 1900-2008, (Foreword by Enrique Vila-Matas, Serbal, 2008).
· Edition of Julio Cejador’s Diccionario fraseológico del Siglo de Oro (Fraseología o estilística castellana), with Abraham Madroñal (Serbal, 2008).
· El laberinto del idioma inglés. Hoja de ruta (Foreword by Dr. James A. Parr, Serbal, 2009)

El Imparcial

2008-02-18T23:59:00.000-08:00

For those of you who can read Spanish and are interested in what's going on in Spain and Europe, I suggest you check the new El Imparcial (www.elimparcial.es) piloted and steered by my good friend Luis María Anson, a true believer in freedom and impartiality. Let us all welcome this new line of thought which, I am sure, will help present the news in a better light than at present.
Congratulations Luis Maria Anson and José Varela Ortega.

The Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations

2008-02-18T08:03:00.000-08:00

This is NOT a book review, just random comments on The Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (secoind Edition). I chanced upon it on the Internet and checked a few writers, Spanish mostly. Cervantes was first: only one hit, "Hunger is the best sauce in the world", which happens to be a proverb and long in existence before Cervantes was born. And I ask myself: Of all Cervantes wrote -and he wrote a lot- is this the best quotation the compiler could get? No further comment.
Then I turned to Ortega y Gasset (He wrote The Revolt of the Masses, remember?) and got again only one hit: "Yo soy yo y mi circunstancia, y si no la salvo a ella no me salvo yo." And the sorry translation offered is -get a load of this!-: "I am I plus my surroundings and if I do not preserve the latter I do not preserve myself." There!
In view of this, I turned to other Spanish-speaking writers and thinkers, some of them Nobel Prize winners: Baroja, Aleixandre, García Márquez, Benavente, Azorín, Jiménez, Calderón, Lope de Vega, Galdós, Neruda, Octavio Paz, Gabriela Mistral... who are not included. But, of course, I find Groucho Marx, no less, who provides quotations from his film Duck soup without crediting the scriptwriters, the ones responsible for the funny gags and turns of phrase. Also, and per usual, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, Bernard Shaw are included.
To the average British mind Spanish-speaking writers and thinkers are of little account. Salvador de Madariaga -he taught at Oxford, and wrote in English also- is a garlic-smelling spick who should be kept off an English Dictionary of quotations. For the British Groucho Marx carries more intellectual weight, by all means.
Stereotypes die hard.

Bertrand Russell and poor me

2008-02-12T21:30:00.000-08:00

Bertrand Russell wrote about how we all needed "some human warmth to keep away the chill of the Universe" but that we find more often than not, as he said, "the treachery of friends, the discovery of the cruelty that lurks in average human nature..." and we realize how alone we really are when the chips are down, when we must rely on the strength of our character to keep away the hurt, the pain and confront, somehow, "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" We franticaly try to plug up the holes of our inadequacies with futile make-do activities... but time slips through our fingers, and our convictions shudder...
Forgive me for this flight into my emotions. It will pass... I hope.

Edward O. Wilson.

2007-08-02T05:18:00.000-07:00

I entered Duquesne University to pursue studies in Chemistry and Biology but I soon changed my mind. In fact, before the school year started I visited Fr. Joseph Moroney, Dean of Arts and Sciences, and changed my major and minor. The Dean tried to persuade me not to do it, but I was pigheaded. Did I do right? When reading Naturalist, by Edward O. Wilson, I enjoy it so much that it makes me wonder whether I made the wrong decision. Do read Naturalist, Wilson's autobiography, and his Journey into the Ants and Sociobiology. You will not regret it. And for a treat check this interview: video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-45154219728824809.

The Limitations of my Mind

2007-08-02T05:04:00.000-07:00

Alas, a recent and unexpected discovery has weaken my resolution to push forward: it has suddenly dawned upon me that my mind -the workings of my brain- has deep limitations and that its scope is narrow. I have been suspecting this for long, very long, but I chose to look the other way, I chose to ignore the evidence. My brain's shortcomings are: an inability to grasp the meaning of time, the concept of beginning or end, nothingness, death and birth, the nature of happiness, the concepts of justice, love, friendship, memory... why go on? The list would be endless. And at this stage I despair of ever putting things right and learn... Too late. I have lost the sense of meaning of nearly everything. Fortunately others do not share my shortcomings...

Duquesne University

2007-06-21T03:21:00.000-07:00

Memories are stashed away for a rainy day. Today -fancy that- it is raining in Madrid, European Union. And as I am feeling a bit under the weather ("I am not too Catholic today", is the equivalent expression in Spanish), I have winnowed old memories (to separate the chaff from the grain) mainly because I have read that Antioch College is closing down. And I was thinking how very close Pitt came to that, once upon a time, under Chancellor Litchfield (his signature is on my MA Diploma) and then, one thing leads to another, I was remembering my days, years, at Duquesne University (Spiritus est qui Vivificat), while reading Spinoza and thinking of the days that are no more, and wiping idle tears I know not what they mean... I guess that in more ways than one I am what I am because of Duquesne University. A great university indeed. I'll tell you more some other time.

At Odds with/over Language, Again.

2007-06-15T01:25:00.000-07:00

In Levine Breaking News, June 7, 2007, I read the following:
"A broad immigration bill to legalize millions of people in the U.S. unlawfully failed a crucial test vote in the Senate Thursday..."
Le me ask:
to legalize millions of people unlawfully?
people in the US unlawfully?
the bill failed a crucial test vote unlawfully?
I'm all mixed up. Per usual.
The use of language is unpredictable and chaotic.

4 Traits about Myself.

2007-06-10T01:22:00.000-07:00

I've been asked, urged, to write 8 things about myself... I'll just write down 4, half. Perhaps soon I can think of 4 additional ones, to complete the 8. Let's give it a try and see:
1. I'm an early-riser, an early bird, mainly because it's been said for centuries that "the early bird catches the worm" (I love worms!) and also that "early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise". I am healthy, but poor and rather stupid. When I was about 13 I bought an alarm clock in order to wake up at 5 am. This habit may be because I am at my best in the morning, full of pep, energy and ideas... which flag as the day progresses.
2. Dr. Frances Collechia, Duquesne University, wrote a letter of character reference where she pointed out that my main and possibly only drawback, defect, weakness, was PROCRASTINATION. And she hit the nail on the head! This illness is a lifestyle for me. It is defined as self-destructive behaviour, like a drug, a sort of paralysis, and task aversion... and I suffer from it, and a lot. To do away with procrastination is one of my New Year's resolutions... every year! A consolation of sorts is that this malady has affected mankind for ages, as the old saw testifies: "Do not put off till tomorrow what you can do today".
3. My sense of humor is weird at best, a trait -good or bad, depending- I just cannot help confronting others with. Is it a defense mechanism? Is it a surrealist way of staring most daily situations in the face? Is it a way of stretching situations to a breaking point? I just don't know. But I cannot help it. Often I find myself in odd social dire straits because of my light attitude towards things and people. Always pulling a straight face. Humor and a straight face go together, like chickens and writers.
4. I lost my patience a while ago, and I've been trying to find it, but can't. At the slightest provocation, I jump at the throat of others. This is terrible and I hate myself for it. To allow others to control my emotions is a real sin. I am at their mercy, imagine! But I am still trying to find my patience and self-control. If at first you don't succeed try, try, try again!

Madrid Book Fair

2007-06-03T00:04:00.000-07:00

Spanish publishers are whiners at heart. They are for ever lamenting the fact that Spaniards do not read, and buy, naturally, few books, in spite of the fact that over 70,000 new titles come out every year in this small country of only 44 million people. No small feat! Yet... yesterday I went to the Retiro Park to visit the Book Fair... throngs made it difficult to walk or see, let alone peruse the books that filled the booths (over 400, I think) of different publishers and bookstores. This should give the lie to all those whiners, I think!!
It was a joy, almost bliss, to walk among people of like tastes as mine!
I went to visit Fernando Sánchez Dragó (check his website and blog) and bought his latest title: Libertad, fraternidad, desigualdad. I had to wait in line in order to have the book signed.
I missed Lorraine there, but I knew she was lurking around in spirit, on a quick visit from Naples, Florida. And she whispered in my ear... words of yesteryear.
I just thought I would let you people in on this, just in case.

Photos San Francisco

2007-05-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

I had a real blast In San Francisco with my long strolls, never-ending chats with Laura Lynn, who gave me the red-carpet treatment in every way, boat rides that were much more than fun, tough hikes, visits to bookstores... and enjoyable conversations with Tom and his family (thanks for the watch) and Sergio, a wonderful listener. Thanks everyone for making my stay so nice and unforgetable. I also made a seagull friend, who was very chatty and informative. The bird asked me to take his picture. Hope you like it.

SF Street

2007-05-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

Going up and down the steep San Francisco streets was tough. But I seem to be enjoying it here in this photograph.

San Francisco Hike

2007-05-15T14:49:00.000-07:00

This is a snapshot taken in San Francisco during a tough hike. I had loads of fun climbing up, and heaps of vertigo coming down. But I made it. More dead than alive! And I had very good company; my mates were professional hikers and mountain climbers. The best.

The Future of Spanish

2007-05-09T03:53:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I recommended Mathew Stewart's The Courtier and the Heretic, Leibnitz, Spinoza and the Fate of God in the Modern World, which I have found informative and very good reading. It has an excellent Bibliography of primary and secondary sources in English, French, German, Italian... but not a single entry in Spanish! Alas! No further comment, and you can draw your own conclusions, in the light of the title of this reflection.

Dr. John Simpson (OED) and Proverbs.

2007-04-29T03:30:00.000-07:00

Dr. John Simpson, Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford English Dictionary and a world authority on Proverbs, prologued my The New Dictionary of Current Sayings and Proverbs, Spanish and English saying the following:

My introduction to Spanish proverbs occurred when I was working on the letter A for the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs. The earliest piece of evidence I had for the proverb It takes all sorts to make a world came from Thomas Shelton’s seventeenth-century English translation of Don Quixote: ‘In the world there must bee of all sorts’. I think the information has stuck with me all these years because I wasn’t expecting the first reference to an English proverb to come from a Spanish source. I’m not sure why I wasn’t expecting this: after all, English (at least since the Norman Conquest) shares much of its proverb heritage with the countries of continental Europe. But following the trail of many words, I imagined that we would find early references to English proverbs in Latin, or in French, rather than in Spanish.
But this European heritage of proverbs is strong. Many exist in parallel in a number of European languages, as the records of these languages show. Proverbs often arise as a response to the trials and tribulations of human existence, and the European experience meant that a proverb that was relevant to Spaniards, or to the French, may well be equally relevant to the English. It took me several years more to realize that proverbs often arise from adversity. They are often a traditional, stoic response to something that has gone wrong. ‘Oh well, don’t worry: it takes all sorts to make a world’. Not always, but often enough for the proverb to have a significant role in consolation.
Delfin Carbonell’s careful review of the modern proverb in Spanish and English investigates the history of our proverbs, and elucidates their meaning (which is not always as clear-cut as one might expect). Proverbs date from the earliest documentary records and have survived right up to the present-day. They still have a function in contemporary society (how often do they crop up in newspaper headings or in chapter titles, for example?). They connect us with our past, with the thoughts and emotions that our predecessors experienced in situations curiously similar to ours today. And Dr Carbonell is right to draw our attention to the need to work from primary source material. There is a bad old tradition in dictionary writing whereby proverbs are handed down from lexicographer (dictionary-writer) to lexicographer, and this dictionary record can in some cases outlive the existence of the proverb itself in actual speech. By concentrating on living testimony to the proverb (whether in modern books or newspapers, or even on the Internet), today’s editor can highlight those proverbs which are really current today, and can screen out (because of lack of evidence) those proverbs which have drifted out of use and into obsolescence. This necessity to cite real, contextual examples underpins all proper scholarly work in lexicography, and informs sound popular texts based on these. Readers often do dictionary-makers the honour of believing what they write, and so it behoves the dictionary-writer to get things right in the first place.
I shall be interested to see what success the present editor has with his unialphabetical system. As far as I am aware, it is an innovation in bilingual paroemiology (as pedants call proverb study). Any system which forces information on us in a new way is worthy of consideration. Advances in knowledge come from breaking the traditional bounds, and seeing links where they have not been recognized before.

John Simpson

Oxford

April 2004

Samuel Johnson, Leibniz and Spinoza.

2007-04-22T02:31:00.000-07:00

May I recommend two books I acquired (bought) in San Francisco? They make excellent reading

Henry Hitchings, Defining [the world.], The Extraordinary story of Dr. Johnson's Dictionary, (New York, Picador, 2006).

Matthew Stewart, The Courtier and the Heretic, Leibniz, Spinoza and the Fate of God in the Modern World, (New York, W.W. Norton, 2006).

You are quite welcome!

Back from San Francisco

2007-04-20T03:43:00.000-07:00

I had been told that San Francisco was a beautiful City, and indeed it is! But while I was there, wined and dined, toured around and given -really- the red-carpet treatment, I was musing -as I am prone to at times- that all cities are wonderful, that perhaps all cities have something unique to offer the occasional visitor. What of Paris? And Cuenca? And Salamanca? And Pittsburgh, for that matter. But this is not to diminish in anyway the beauty of San Francisco and the charm of Alameda, especially 2105 Alameda Ave., a comfortable and well-kept place where it was my good fortune to stay. Thank you for a great experience.

San Francisco

2007-03-26T05:49:00.000-07:00

Guess what? I am traveling to Frisco tomorrow Tuesday. I have been away from the States close to a year and I am looking forward to visit this city. I'll keep my eyes peeled and I'll cock my ears. Of course, I suffer from travelphobia, like Sigmund Freud, so I'll have to brace up and grin and bear it! I'll keep in touch from there. Oh, yes, keep an eye out for El Cultural, El Mundo, next Thursday, in Madrid, which will carry an interview about my recent Diccionario sohez.

Freedom of Language Act

2007-02-04T05:41:00.000-08:00

I am a -firm- believer in "freedom of language" which is the shirttail cousin of Freedom of Speech. This freedom affords us the liberty (catch the play on words?) of expressing our convictions, ideas, attitudes... any old way, without regard to formal rules that restrict our language liberty. The old rules of grammar and spelling attack the basic principle of our freedom of language, which is protected, believe it or not, by the Constitution, First Amendment, under Freedom of Speech.
The U.S. Embassy in Madrid sends me -at my request- an electronic Newsletter "Zoom in on the USA, a monthly publication of the USA Mission", put together to help those interested in the US and the English language. Unfortunately I always detect spelling mistakes -not typos- and grammatical and syntactical "faux pas". And as I am very naïve -and a bit foolish- I have pointed this out to them, to those who write it. To no avail, 'cause I guess that the composers have entrenched themselves behind the proposed "Freedom of Language Act", draft in the works by Congress to protect the ignorant, which -I am told- says: "Any government official is free to write the English language in any form and maner (sic) that his/her education, or lack of it, dictates. Thus spelling idiosyncracies, grammatical and syntactical deviations will not constitutte (sic) a transgression. No member of the Government or fereign (sic) service will ever be called to order for using broken English..." And so on and so forth.
If I were a pedant I would say: "O tempora, o mores!"
The Social Security Administration is elated by the news of the proposed Act as they are cut from the same cloth.
But perhaps this Freedom of Language Act -which is my idea and intended as a mild joke- may not be necessary: Common Law protects, aids and abets the new usage and peculiarities of expression.
This may be just a question of age, but I regret the new (?) language liberties and long for the old times... Oh, I believe in yesterday...
(NB. Let me add, just in case, that the Government of Spain is considering a "Real Decreto de Libertad del Idioma" to protect everybody.)

Unialphabet and Bilingual Dictionaries

2007-01-15T00:30:00.000-08:00

In checking words in bilingual dictionaries, English-Spanish and Spanish-English, for example, I have always opened the wrong part, the wrong language. It is true that usually I handle three or four dictionaries at the same time. I though this was perhaps my bad luck as it is a fifty-fifty proposition. But ther is no order or system: some have English first, others Spanish first, English second.
I decided to solve the problem and took the bull by the horns -toreador style- and as there is no reason for dividing a dictionary in two parts, I invented -if we can call it that- the Unialphabet system of classification. Why not one dictionary blending blending both languages and using one alphabet? Instead of two different dictionaries in one volume. This way we just open the bilingual wordbook and go straight to the term we want to check. No problems, no mistakes, no wasting of time.
So far I have used this system in two of my dictionaries: "A Spanish and English Dictionary of Idioms" and "The New Dictionary of Current Sayings and Proverbs, Spanish and English", where Dr. John Simpson, Editor in Chief of the Oxford English Dictionary says in his Foreword: "I shall be interested to see what success the present editor has with his unialphabetical system. As far as I am aware, it is an innovation in bilingual paroemology (as pedants call proverb study). Any system which forces information on us in a new way is worthy of consideration. Advances in knowledge come from breaking the traditional bounds and seeing links where they have not been recognized before."

QUICK!!!

2006-12-24T12:30:00.000-08:00

Quick, we must make New year's resolutions. The New Year is just around the corner! Plans, resolutions, resolves, determinations, are the motor of our future and we cannot do without them... The first one I'm thinking about is: to stop being a procrastinator. But I've been one for so long it's going to take a lot of effort and might on my part to get rid of this worm that destroys the mind. And: I won't lose my temper. I won't feel sad. I won't despair. I won't think about all the mistakes I've made, and the foolish things I've done in my life. And I'll try to enjoy every moment of the year ahead. A tall order indeed!
Happy New Year, y'all!

Diccionario sohez

2006-12-15T03:45:00.000-08:00

For those who are fond of trivia: Larousse published in 2000 my Gran diccionario del argot: el sohez. In 2002 McGraw-Hill published the US edition with the title McGraw-Hill diccionario del argot: el sohez. And now Ediciones del Serbal will publish in February 2007 the new, updated and corrected edition of Diccionario sohez. This definitive edition of Spanish slang has over 9000 entries and 23000 citations from both sides of the Atlantic (from books, newspapers and magazines). The lexicographical presentation of this new edition is an improvement on the previous ones. I am very proud of it.

A good teacher is a joy forever

2006-12-04T22:39:00.000-08:00

It's sad to say, but most teachers have no dedication and go into the classroom as if they were entering a lion's cage. They dislike or even hate their students and seldom prepare the class. A truly sorry situation. But there are many exceptions, naturally, and I know of one dedicated and loving teacher: Laura Lynne, and I want to mention her here in thankfulness for what she has taught me along the way, and in so many ways. Teaching is not only delivered in the classroom, and not always comes from one's elders. So, thank you very much indeed.

Lorraine C. Ladish

2006-12-01T09:39:00.000-08:00

I have followed her writing career for years and admire her quest for perfection, writing and offering books that truly touch, reach and help people. That is no small feat. It seems she receives letters and e-mails from her readers thanking her for her help. My readers never write to me. But when people take the trouble to let a writer know how thankful they are, that certainly means something, especially from Spaniards who are more given to criticize and blame than praise. And her novels are very intriguing, different and a joy to read. I thought I would let you know.

Fernando Arrabal

2006-11-30T11:57:00.000-08:00

Fernando Arrabal was just named "Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur" in Paris. And I am very, very happy about it because it says a lot about the standing of France and Arrabal, both. Great country and great writer. Also because we correspond now and started doing so years ago when I was teaching at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. and he was almost a nobody (although he was mentioned by Martin Esslin in his "The Theater of the Absurd", a must). Congratulations Monsieur Arrabal... happy to hear about it.

Experts and know-it-alls

2006-11-30T11:46:00.000-08:00

One feature I just love about the character of Spaniards is that they know about everything, no matter what. You name it: language, literature, science, law, the US., Outer Mongolia... so much so that one seldom hears "I don't know". Everybody knows, more and better... This is, of course, a far cry from the attitude adopted by Americans who are willing to admit their ignorance and are ready to learn. Sometimes -often- the so-called expert is not qualified with a solid background, but that is irrelevant here. But I am not complaining -I try not to be a complainer or a blamer- quite the contrary, it's wonderful and a blessing to have so many walking encyclopedias around. No need to visit libraries, which is a waste of time... (here). There are experts galore. Amando de Miguel is one such and comes to mind because not only does he speak English "perfectly" (whatever that means), he also pontificates about language although he says he teaches sociology. I envy these people because, in my case, I know less and less as I grow older and the time will come -soon, I am afraid- when I will be sure of nothing at all.

Books, Reading and hard Facts

2006-11-15T23:52:00.000-08:00

Reading a book per week is quite a feat, as most people never ever get to do that, whatever they might say to the contrary. So, here come the facts: One book per week makes 52 books per year. In 10 years 520... In 20 years 1,040 ONLY... That means that if we read 1 novel per week -and that's a lot of reading, let me tell you- in 20 years we can only boast of 1,040 titles read, and understood, let us hope. And we must keep up with the great works of literature of all time; the books that must be read by all educated people: titles by Cervantes, Cicero, Tolstoy, Plato, Baroja, Molière, Shakespeare, Dante, Goethe... So, how many can we actually read in a lifetime? And read we must, or else we run the risk of living in the dark, in the night of ignorance. My conclusion is that we cannot spend our time diddling around and reading useless books produced by dubious writers and must recourse instead to what we know can teach us something. And as Jorge Santayana said in Three Philosphical Poets: "The only purpose in possessing great works of literature lies in what they can help us to become". (I am quoting from memory.) We should reflect on this.

Might be of interest

2006-11-08T03:08:00.000-08:00

I was just musing that this address might be of interest:
www.ed-serbal.es/relacionados.asp?cadena=Delfín Carbonell Basset
That's all for today.

The Words we Need

2006-10-31T23:45:00.000-08:00

Instead of giving us the words we need, bilingual dictionaries include words we don't know in either language, and thus we will never use, or obsolete vocabulary belonging to an era gone (and lost forever) like "trébedes", trivets, "ordenancista", martinet, and such... Of course this is because the team of compilers copy old dictionaries or, worse still, they think the value of a wordbook rests on its thickness -the fatter, the better-, but, of course, this is not so. And the team does not address itself to solving problems like "tutear", "amiguismo"... but include a word in English, but not in Spanish and so on. The most modern dictionaries put in irrelevant information alien to a book of this nature, like the history of certain customs (Halloween, boxing day) which properly belong elsewhere. I'll go into this again in a few days.

Children and questions

2006-10-30T14:39:00.002-08:00

Children are for ever asking questions... And then one day, they start giving answers to parents' questions... Hm. Of course, of course....

My workplace

2006-10-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

I am a team of one. I compile my dictionaries wherever and whenever I can. The world is my workplace. Here I am at Atocha train station in Madrid, holding one of my books.

On Language and Culture: October 2006

2006-10-30T04:22:00.000-08:00

On Language and Culture: October 2006
Did you know that the Velázquez Sp. and Eng. dictionary was originally published in 1852? And it's still being sold... And the Martinez Amador, first published in 1925 is still in bookstores... Ditto for the Cuyás and Williams... They are all basically worthless now. So beware of bilingual dictionaries!! Make sure you find the first date of publication before putting your money on the counter.

On Language and Culture

2006-10-30T03:37:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess I am hooked, finally... and have decided to launch my ideas on the internet. Ideas about language and culture, English and Spanish. We'll see... Veremos. Todo se andará.