Notes & Asides.-- Dear Mr. Buckley: To quote a recent Wall Street Journal editorial, "The House of Representatives, as everyone knows, is that place where the Members address each other as 'The Gentlelady [one word] from Connecticut.'" I need some help on this. "Ladies" and "Gentlemen" are terms to designate persons, female and male, of refined speech and manners. There are gentle ladies, but that is redundant. One could, I guess, say that a lady is a female gentleman. But the term "gentlelady" sounds stilted stilt·ed adj. 1. Stiffly or artificially formal; stiff. 2. Architecture Having some vertical length between the impost and the beginning of the curve. Used of an arch. and not in keeping with the King's English King's English n. English speech or usage that is considered standard or accepted; Received Standard English. Noun 1. King's English - English as spoken by educated persons in southern England Queen's English . My eighth-grade English teacher would have none of it, and she was ever a lady. Sincerely, David D. Ansel Annapolis, Md. Dear Mr. Ansel: What you ask puts us face to face with a discomfiting fruit of the women's movement women's movement: see feminism; woman suffrage. women's movement Diverse social movement, largely based in the U.S., seeking equal rights and opportunities for women in their economic activities, personal lives, and politics. . To refer to a "lady," other than as a complement to a "gentleman," is thought condescending. Clare Boothe Luce Clare Boothe Luce (April 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American editor, playwright, social activist, politician, journalist, and diplomat. Witty, perceptive, and determined, she was also a prominent figure in New York society circles. , e.g., reprimanded me on Firing Line for referring to her as a ("distinguished") lady. It's similar to the problem bequeathed to us by the proscription against the use of "Dear Sirs." That was such a manageable way, back then, to begin a letter addressed to the Department of Motor Vehicles In the United States of America, Department of Motor Vehicles (or DMV) is a commonly used name of the government agency of a U.S. state which administers the registration of automobiles (e.g., by issuing license plates), and/or the licensing of drivers (e.g. or the Circulation Department of National Review , or the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary Oxford English Dictionary (OED) great multi-volume historical dictionary of English. [Br. Hist.: Caught in the Web of Words] See : Lexicography , for that matter. But we can't do that, those of us who are running for president: Can you imagine a letter, other than to a Carthusian monastery, beginning with "Dear Sirs," and signed by Kerry, Dean, Graham, or any of those other people? He'd (Carol Moseley Braun Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun (born August 16, 1947) is an American politician and lawyer who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. She was the first, and to date, the only, African American woman elected to the United States Senate. gets in the way here) -- he/she would be tossed out of Iowa and New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). on his/her ear by all the gentleladies acting in concert. So, we just have to struggle along with, e.g., "Dear Sirs or Madams," but of course you do see the danger there. "Dear Sir/Ms." might get you by, but that leaves you feeling anal-compulsive. "To Whom It May Concern" sounds portentous por·ten·tous adj. 1. Of the nature of or constituting a portent; foreboding: "The present aspect of society is portentous of great change" Edward Bellamy. 2. on a petition for a form to renew your dog's registration, but what is there to do if one wants to retain some semblance of civility? Sorry I can't help you. Cordially, WFB WFB Warhammer: Fantasy Battle (game) WFB World Fellowship of Buddhists WFB Wells Fargo Bank WFB William Frank Buckley (founder and editor of National Review Magazine) WFB WorkFlow Builder -- Dear Mr. Buckley: I agree with your correspondent Helen Wildermuth (May 19) on the proper use of thank you/you're welcome, but she is mistaken about the German word danke -- it simply means "thank you." The answer to it is bitte , and the exchange goes as follows: Danke schoen/Bitte schoen or Danke sehr/Bitte sehr . There is one accepted and often-used variant: Danke schoen/Gern geschehen , which means "Thank you/It was my pleasure." While I thoroughly enjoy the English language, I can't agree that English is a fuller language than German. A study of Goethe's Faust easily dissuades one from that opinion, not to mention the difficult and complicated grammatical structure of German. Although I might be talked into a draw. Horst Brakel New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , N.Y. -- Dear Mr. Buckley: The June 30 issue of NR mentions "famine in the [ sic ] Ukraine." I hope that in the future one may read about famine in the Ireland, the China, or the India. William J. McNamara New Britain, Conn. -- Dear Mr. Buckley: You extolled the virtues of peanut butter so eloquently in the course of a biographical sketch shown on TV that I have no doubt that you should be the one to compose an "Ode to Peanut Butter." Do it well, lest the ode be odious, and do it without delay so that I may enjoy it before I gasp away, a fate known to happen to octogenarians in large numbers at unpredictable moments. The world cries out for an "Ode to Peanut Butter." Are you up to the task? Jim Schmitt Ashland City, Tenn. Dear Mr. Schmitt: Not a chance. Am not up to the challenge, and Shakespeare's dead. Cordially, -- WFB |
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