Archaic, Cumbrous, and Ineffective

Simps has his pinafore all in a twist because in that short post I knocked off the other day expecting my internet to go out again at any second,  I spelled the word "poll" instead of "pole."   He loves to put on his tireless meter maid of orthography uniform and get out his ticket book as much as he likes to put on his Poldark breeches when PBS is running that bodice ripper again.   He's got an uninteresting fantasy life.  

I'll use the occasion to repost, again, one of the best passages from Thorstein Veblen, from the last pages of his Theory of The Leisure Class:

As felicitous an instance of futile classicism as can well be found, outside of the Far East, is the conventional spelling of the English language. A breach of the proprieties in spelling is extremely annoying and will discredit any writer in the eyes of all persons who are possessed of a developed sense of the true and beautiful. English orthography satisfies all the requirements of the canons of reputability under the law of conspicuous waste. It is archaic, cumbrous, and ineffective; its acquisition consumes much time and effort; failure to acquire it is easy of detection. Therefore it is the first and readiest test of reputability in learning, and conformity to its ritual is indispensable to a blameless scholastic life.

Thorstein Veblen 

I just love the language Veblen used when he was being as sarcastic a writer as there has ever been in the history of the English language, even more subtle and sarcastic than Ben Jonson.   I'm tempted to go into Jonson's spelling, not only of his last name which he changed TO NOT CONFORM TO THE COMMON SPELLING OF IT mid-career but spelling by one of the most learned and erudite writers in the history of the language.  But this is a knock-off piece, too.  

I'm a thought criminal.  I have no desire for reputability.  What's reputable in 21st century America and English language kulcha is most likely stupid and sloppy.  I decided to embrace disrepute after years of being told that I can't say the things I say.   You think that's going to make me feel shame?   As opposed to what?   Supporting the most publicly conducted genocide in history?    You've been trying to make me feel ashamed for years and it hasn't worked yet,  it's never going to.   It only risks making me feel smug.   Though I don't even care that much about it.