Octavia Hansen

Language Almost Lost



Posted: Tuesday, August 16, 2011

by Octavia Hansen
Octavia Hansen

I love the English language. I never tire of the infinite variations -- accents, turn of phrase, word trends. I love books at least one hundred years old for the careful phrasing carefully stated not to offend yet allude to something life shattering, be it personal or voyeuristic.

Born on the wrong side of the sheets. This reference to illegitimate birth was enough to send questionable family members packing long ago. Now, if it's understood, it merits a smile. I've only heard this in passing about pretenders to the British throne. Does this even matter anymore?

Working girl. Today it describes every woman I have ever met, stay-at-home or not. It used to be what polite society could not say was a street walker. Not to be confused with the "other woman." Why do I think every Victorian man's ears stood up at the mere passing of these words?

She left under a cloud. I never had a firm recounting of this. It could have been that she liked men, or dated without thought of marriage, or was kissed, or found with a man on a swing or gazebo or at least I think it had something to do with men. Considering a carriage ride without a chaperone was enough to soil a woman's reputation, this could also easily have meant she did not carefully practice personal hygiene. Life was incredibly judgmental not so long ago.

White and dark meat. This one kills me. In the Victorian era it was considered obscene to say leg, thigh, breast and a few other body parts that currently pass as every day nouns. So, not to offend delicate sensibilities, a reference to white and dark meat was deemed appropriate. This was when "skirts" were attached to tables and pianos so they would not see the "legs." When one simply had to embarrass themselves with a reference to a body part, it was a "limb."

Victorian Age. And speaking of the Victorian age, named after the most dysfunctional family in the English speaking world (Queen in perpetual mourning, Bertie catting around, everyone sleeping around but no body could say what they mean), it took one hundred years for society to out-grow this repressive influence. And these crappy romance novels to this day perpetuate the myth of this thin glossy veneer over corrupted values. Women, what are you thinking?

And though this last one is used in many stories, I seem to be the only one who laughs when it's said:

You seek a great fortune. (King Solomon's Mines; Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?; Shakespeare) Well, of course everybody does! No one goes in search of poverty. A lateral move is wasted effort. If there isn't something to be gained (money? knowledge? adventure? closure?) why bother?

Maybe it's like the sun rising and setting, which it does neither. After 20,000+ years quoted as such in the thoughts and writing of human beings, it's difficult to change or erase daily use of this phrase. It makes songs happy or sad, it makes a convenient opening or closing of a book or movie. (Just in case that rise/set statement confuses you: the Earth turns on its axis and revolves around the Sun. The Sun being stationary, does not rise or set. Also, what you see is distorted by the Earth's atmospheric layer, so you're not even seeing it as it happens. Looking at a straw in a glass of water is a similar effect.)

I LOVE the English language. There's always something else to name, to tell and to talk about.
Octavia (Yes, that's her real name!) is a busy gal in Las Vegas, NV. From New York City parents and Texas birth, she began in the best of both worlds, literate and comical. Extensive US family travel in her younger years, now she's on her third passport and numerous cars driven to pieces in the name of wanderlust. The Big O settled in Las Vegas, which she compares to running away to join the circus - IT'S FUN! Comedy and alternative thinking come easily. When she's not writing, she sings, she writes songs, produces her own CDs, attracted to shiny objects, looks stunning at renaissance festivals across the country and is only stopped by lack of time for all the projects she has in mind. What a woman!
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