European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 18, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 18 the stars and stripes monday May 1b, 1987 columns today s crossword / dare you Daren the Durst t by William Sofike you have Beta grievously misinformed Aboul the pm thai Dart not speak in a a cell piece 1 wrote thai tie famous phrase came from the poem two loves by Oscar poem wrong author it has been pointed Cut to me by the pulitzer winning poet Ptter Viereck that two love was nol by Wilde but by his Lover and destroyer loud Alfred did i think it we by Wilde because at his trial for sodomy Wilde Wai confronted with the Lin that angered the Marquis or Queen Benry father of lord Douglas. The Marquis believed writes Johng. Pilolla of san Francisco that the corrupting in Ltd nce of the older writer hid led hit son to pen it Wilde denied to till the line referred to homosexuality but nobody believed him furthermore the line be came associated with him and not with the author. That s the easy fix. Much lengthier Letton came in bout my explanation of Why the poet wrote love that dirt rather than love that dare. It Severni that it has nothing to do with the subjunctive and that the verb dare is one of the trickiest nerds in the language,1 find h a bit Odd to be defending Oscar Wilde who we pretty Good at defending himself writes Francis Emericu professor at Brown univer sity and textbook authority on the history of the English language Francis explain that Wilde we using dare As modal auxiliary rather than a full verb the Modals being thine Little verbs we use to qualify or hedge Amalen tent in one Way or another among the Many Modem modal Are can May . With due and deed on the fringe of the group. What Al important for this discussion lec Tures. The prof eur whose tract modal Daren t and Durrent in dialectal English hat never been Success fully rebutted n that modal do not have the i suffix in the lint person sing Ilir present we do not say he cans he Mayi,1 let us now get very Subtle. The word Dan in it Nodal mate hoi different meaning from the same word acting 11 a Normal verb. Dare the modal sex Purina the prof eur Means there May be unhappy social consequences of doing the act while care the full verb limply Means being in Jinn l we at for an example showing the differ ence Between dare As full verb and dare a timid modal franc it offers one from . Eliot s the Loveson of j. Alfred Prufrock a landmark Modem poem note thai Eliot i in frock says do i dare treat a peach,1 not dare i Tat a up act he was not sure be would be Brave enough to a of us who measure out our lives with Coffee Spoont Welcome Ihil Nice differentiation. Poor deferential politic cautious Dit i in he mists of Antiquity in began to Low " Nail nibbling modal form to the dominant and Brave verb dare. But it still bears signs of in great history writes Jay a Jasanoff of Cornell University s department of Modem languages and linguistics. When we say rather than / dare to Sty we Are using the syntax of the or Cerilo present or medal auxiliary i you prefer. If Wilde had really wanted a one word Way of saying what you said he said i think he Wouldhave used the Fine old past subjunctive Durst this i am willing to bet is what underlies the substandard contraction Dasal Witch 1 used to see in comic books in the 1950s."so Wilde s Lover did not use love that dare not in the subjunctive As i guessed to express Wishful think ing instead he us the modal form or third person singular indicative without the son dare to emphasize tentative Ness. There is much Moie to this can of Worms illustrating the glorious intricacy of our Tongue but i Dan t go on. Good is a Milt i m surprised that professors of religion Haven t called you to task writes the Rev George f. Maltie cof the Church of is. Brigid and St. Joseph in Syracuse . Please Check up on the word myth and Only use it sure enough soon after a piece appeared thai i had entitled ten myths about the Reagan debacle pro Fessor Neil Gillrain of the jewish theological sem Inary of America wrote after Yean of trying to per Suade my students that a myth is not a fiction but rather a Structure of meaning through which people read Complex and elusive experiences and that myths Are therefore indispensable you have undone All of my work. There Are apparently myths and there Are facts the former Are false the latter Are my clerical correspondents have locked on to the original meaning of myth a word clipped Only in the last Century from mythology rooted in the greek my not narrative to Many teachers of religion and to some psychiatrists a myth is a legend that helps people Cope an ostensibly historical Story passed on by a culture to help ill members explain their practices and beliefs. On the other hand funds Nten Talistu beige it Hitt myths Are to be taken literally and treat what some consider a quaint Folk Story or instructional allegory As an article of word has gained another sense however that conflicts with in original sense fiction fable old wives the philosopher Plato started this sense by treating a myth As an allegory a Story made up notto deceive but to illustrate some philosophical idea. U was settled in Modem politics by John f. Kennedy Ina 1962 speech at Yale As meaning a Froien unintentionally misleading mind eel contrasting what recalled myth and As Kennedy said for the Ireat enemy of the truth is very often nol the lie deliberate contrived and dishonest but the myth persistent persuasive and j. William Ful Bright later entitled a Book old myths and new realities emphasizing the self deluding nature of the myth. Here we Are then with a word having two mean Ings thai confuse and irritate teachers who want their student to be very Clear about the first sense. 1 must disappoint them. Sorry but that what the language is like. Nobody owns in. If they want to Leach mythology101, let them use the word with their meaning and say sternly in the original sense or whatever Modifica Tion of that first sense suits them. The rest of us will go on using the new myths and old realities. Tori just Carr rfcs Cou fare of mm., . , Whf across 4 we concerned 9 Toper 12 Barcelon Bravo 13 White Poplar greatest in new England Ouw 17 Gypsy Rose Isnain Gaddua 19 Man name that s Winner ii concur34 love god 25 Shad of Green 26 hardenz8" laughing"31 a is airport35 skip Stoneson Amer 35 the old we 36 fear 38 Derek 58 9 table and or All bread diddle she " 10 margarine40 Spanish 89 Likely 11 Row hero Down 1 a Palmer 41 entreaty i try peg43 game function 20 now wagers 2 or the Follower?45 College manner of 21 Fozuna curriculum 3 Barbara 23 withered 47 scottish john48 brother t 40 the attract animals d4wnth so Bay window 58 a we geddm4 Hunting Lodge i scrubbed the mission8 author stout7 French 23 if use Din making inktche37 by Check 29 new Yor canal 30 pole bom steam 42cognizanl 44 cuckoo4sstlfqy formal ban Najr timer b/19 s-18 the far Side of welds
