Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 10:49:54 -0500
From: Reg Lilly <rlilly-AT-scott.skidmore.edu>
Subject: Re: PLC: Mot du Jour: Cant


Joerg T. Gruel wrote:
> 
> Where has that pleasant habit of the "Mot du Jour" gone recently? Is it
> already deprecated by those tiresome "Mod/Pod du Jour" turlupinades octroyed
> on us by that sinister trinity of boy scout derision sycophants?


	Unfortunately my most of my mots have been absorbed in arriere garde
operations, a fact which will change even if I must sheerly and merely will it. 
Obviously, I love the MotduJour, and will soon return to my love of thinking
about language rather than, well 'who's on first.'


> 
> While I sat pondering hard on the nature of our list, and on that of our
> fellow list, and its metalist, as well as on the nature of Bad Writing, there
> came fluttering around the  word "cant", which looks well suited for a
> November monday's mot. My utterly insufficient Langenscheidt has:

	Interestingly, according to the OED it's related tl MLG kant (yikes) that means
'point, border, creek margin, brim.'  So I guess the Koenigsbergian just *had*
to write the KrV -- its iin his name!
	The OED has a fairly huge entry for 'cant.'  It indicates a geometrical
element, namely an oblique line or surface, and as a verb it indicates a 'toss,
pitch or throw', for eg., a sudden movement which tends to, ore results in,
tilting or turning over.'
	But I think Joerg is pointing to a specific sense, one related to the sense of
'cant' as a musical term, and that is the sense of 'idiom' -- but of a very
special sort, namely, "The peculiar language or jargon of oa class; the secre
language or jargon used by gipsies, thieves, professional geggars, etc; any
jargon used for the purpose of secrecy.'  And "The special phraseology of a
particular class of persons, or belonging to a particular subject; professional
or technical jargon (always depreciative or contemptuou)." 
	From this we can see why 'cant' would come to mean 'a set form of words
repeated perfuctorily or mechanically; a pet phrase, a trick or words -- esp. a
stock phrase that is much affected at the time, or repreated as amatter of habit
or form;' and 'phraseology taken up and used for fashion's sake, without being a
genuine expression of sentiment: *canting language*; afftected or unreal use of
religious or pietistic phraseology; language (or action) implying the pretended
assusmtion of goodness or piety.'
	So, my reading of this is that Gerede is rather innocent -- gossip really -- in
which people are just using up time by talking and repeating what has already
been said by someone else.  The sense that comes through to me is 'speaking out
of both sides of one's mouth' -- hence --

 
>   1. Insincere talk implying piety; hypocrisy.

	But as this is systematic and institutionalize, codified in terms of a common
practice, rather than just being good old hypocrisy, there's a sense of
conspiracy -- hence 

>   2. Special talk, words, used by a particular class of people: thieves' ~.


	I love this word!  What a difference an apostrophy makes -- 'I cant'!

Reg


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