From: Unleesh-AT-aol.com
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 02:58:34 EST
Subject: Re:  dictionaries


" In  the ideal kingdom of metaphor and poetry in which poets dream

 You would not be allowed in ever. Ever."

You call this discourse? This is the same person who has an aneurism at the
mention of the word "motherfucker"?

Oh great god of poetry, how did you ever come to be such an authority on the
realm of metaphor and dream? Oh St. Peter at the Gates of Surrealism, how did
you get to that position?


I like dictionaries. I use them to trace wordflows. But I don't use them to
Dictate definitions. Perhaps instead of this rubbish you're spilling out,
you'd like to address the Politics Behind Dictionaries. How is it that a few
people come to define words for everyone? I'd say that's a political act. And
then if a few cronies try to use the authority of that act to beat others over
the head with "official definitions", that's authoritarian as well. I've used
my dictionary as a pillow, I've caressed its pages, I've constructed deliriums
with thesauruses ... but I'd rather not have such a delicate instrument used
as a weapon, just as I'd rather not see a harp used to bash someone in the
face ..