|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
I need help with this word from somebody who has a dictionary older than 1940.
In an old book I am reading, the writer bemoans the fact that critics hinder the enjoyment and appreciation of art.
The writer uses this sentence:
...I say, the critic, if he were or could be, as critic, to any degree a considerate human being, or graced by even the amenity of a Boojum, would "softly and silently vanish away." But critics, sadly, arent't like that. (emphasis mine)
I can't find a definition of Boojum that fits this sentence or what this man is trying to say.
I've found references to boojum trees and, as boojum being a particularly nasty snark, which is a creature invented by Lewis Carrol in 1951.
The book I am reading dates from 1939, so it definitely isn't the snark, and a boojum tree is rather rough and ragged and not anthing in which there would be amenities, so neither definitions fit.
I'm thinking it is a word that has fallen out of use or disappeared. It also seems a proper noun since it is capitalized.
Can anybody help?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 390
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 390 |
I've found references to boojum trees and, as boojum being a particularly nasty snark, which is a creature invented by Lewis Carrol in 1951.
The book I am reading dates from 1939, so it definitely isn't the snark,
Can anybody help?
Carroll Wrote The Hunting of the Snark in 1876 - he was LONG dead by 1951. The boojum you read about was almost certainly a reference to Carroll's creation.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Did he? Sheesh, the info you get on the net can certainly be off, eh.
I don't know how the snark definition works though. If a Boojum is a particularly nasty snark, then it wouldn't be "graced by amenity", na?
Mind you, if the date was wrong, then the definition of the snark could also be wrong. I'll have to look around some more.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
a Boojum was, ostensibly, a particularly dangerous kind of snark. Lewis Carroll invariably described the snark as "unimaginable". But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day, If your Snark be a Boojum! For then You will softly and suddenly vanish away.. [EA] The dreadful Boojum of Nothingness. - W. H. Auden
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
boojumThe boojum (aka Fouquieria columnaris) is also a rather strange tree in Baja California ( link). Godfrey Sykes named it.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
It sounds to me like the speaker is hoping the critic(s) will magically go away for good.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067 |
I've found references to boojum trees and, as boojum being a particularly nasty snark, which is a creature invented by Lewis Carrol in 1951.
The book I am reading dates from 1939, so it definitely isn't the snark,
Can anybody help?
Carroll Wrote The Hunting of the Snark in 1876 - he was LONG dead by 1951. The boojum you read about was almost certainly a reference to Carroll's creation. I would say almost certainly the 1951 reference belMarduk came across was simply the publication date of a Carroll anthology or perhaps dictionary of quotations, or whatever the book was that the word appeared in.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
boojumThe boojum (aka Fouquieria columnaris) is also a rather strange tree in Baja California ( link). Godfrey Sykes named it. That's a real beauty of the freakish order! For those who overlooked the link in the link: Boojumbo
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Good grief--it looks like it's dying, having had something catastrophic happen to it.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067 |
Good grief--it looks like it's dying, having had something catastrophic happen to it. ...you mean, like Wall St?
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,809
Members9,187
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
875
guests, and
1
robot. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
