Re: Editing Your Articles (and Mine)
By Robbie Rhodes
Wybe van der Wal sent thanks for the editing efforts which "let us communicate." He sometimes speaks seven different languages daily, and he notes that it's difficult, if not impossible, to be correct all the time. I understand his dilemma with English, which uses words borrowed from many languages.
For example, Wybe wrote that Mr. Posthumus "painted the front of the organ." I read the phrase and mused, "What's wrong here?", and I recalled that in the jargon of mechanical music we speak of the "facade" of the carousel or fairgound organ. How could Wybe know that we use the _actual French word_ for "an imposing appearance (or 'face') which conceals something inferior."
Joyce Brite noticed some mispelled (or misspelled) words in _my_ article: grammer -> grammar, adherance -> adherence. Well, since at heart I'm a teacher, like Joyce, I can cite the old excuse, "Do as I say, not as I do!" ... I really shouldn't write when I'm half-asleep!
Joyce concluded:
> I am glad you are committed to clarity in prose. We all should
> eschew recondite allusions which uncopious individuals construe.
A fine & clearly stated observation! True, it has uncommon words, and it sounds like lawyers talking! However, it can easily be translated into any language without ambiguity. The meaning is "Keep it clear and simple." That's my goal, too!
Thanks, Wybe and Joyce.
Robbie Rhodes, Relief Editor, Mechanical Music Digest
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