Notes & asides.

* Dear Mr. Buckley: Thought you would like to know that I just signed up my grandson (aged 7) for a trial subscription to NR. In the gift card, I mentioned that his "grampa" had enjoyed NR since Au[H.sub.2]O.

Question: Do you think he's old enough to begin reading Nearer, My God? How about God and Man at Yale?

I'd like to be able to enjoy NR for another 30 years. Are you up to remaining a contributor through 2035?

Best regards,

Bill Jukins

Dunwoody, Ga.

Dear Mr. Jukins: I hadn't thought about it. In 2035 I'll be 110 years old, and wouldn't want to run the risk of letting your grandson down.

Cordially, WFB 

* Dear Mr. Buckley: Because I highlight and look up unfamiliar words in NR, I spend a great deal of time flipping dictionary pages.

In the late 1980s I discovered "opsimathy" in one of your columns. It has become my favorite and most valued noun. I wonder why this most encouraging word is included in only the older dictionaries. Furthermore, none of the hundreds of people I have asked has known the meaning the word, including a professor of classics. To correct this deficiency I have made bookmarks saying "Cultivate Opsimathy."

Perhaps a bumper sticker reading "Be an Opsimath" would invite more general use of this word.

In any event, thanks to you for introducing me to the concept of opsimathy. It will continue to lift my spirits as I totter into my eightieth decade.

Gratefully,

Nancy Bowman

New Canaan, Conn.

Dear Miss Bowman: Oh, but that won't work! You cannot enjoin anybody to "be" an opsimath, because either he/she did, or did not, undertake to learn at a late age. Well, come to think of it, you're right: If you "become" an opsimath, you become someone devoted to learning at whatever age. So, good luck with your campaign.

Cordially, WFB

* Dear Mr. Buckley: All the hubbub about the propriety of singular or plural verbs with "data" and "media" is nonsense. Well, actually, it's all about "sense," the word dictionaries use to indicate the nuances in word meanings.

The sense of "data" and "media," whether singular or plural, is pretty well understood, but when you talk about "datum," you're more likely speaking of a point of reference than a single fact, and the use of "medium" conjures up images of witches and clairvoyants.

So in order to avoid this confusion, "media" and "data" should be used when referring to the news service (services) and the fact (facts) they (it) endeavor (endeavors) to convey, and "medium" and "datum" should be used only when a different sense is desired. In any case, whether one uses singular or plural verbs is more a matter of style than of grammar. It may be described as form yielding to utility (and if you pluralize that, you've got gas and electricity!).

Cordially,

George W. Hostetler

Upland, Calif.

Dear Mr. Hostetler: That gets pretty complicated, but let's try. Tell me a year from now how you're getting along.

Cordially,

--WFB