On 9/17/2024 4:09 AM, Ross Clark wrote:
Story by Graham Greene, directed by Carol Reed, with Orson Welles in a
central role. Noirish occupied Vienna in 1946.
I certainly remember Anton Karas's theme tune on the zither; it was on
the radio a lot when the film was new. But I was a small boy, and this
was not a suitable film. I didn't see it until maybe a decade later.
And the language angle? The envelope, please...
Crystal references a paper he gave at a conference a few years ago:
"Going Especially Careful: Language Reference in Graham Greene".
To my surprise, it's right here:
https://www.davidcrystal.com/Files/BooksAndArticles/-4838.pdf
But just to summarize the points for today:
Greene never said much explicitly about language.
But his characters notice it and talk about it all the time.
And "whenever there's explicit reference -- to accent, words, grammar
-- or to individual languages and dialects, it's a sign that trouble
is brewing.
[I want to jump up and say, "But trouble is brewing all the time in
Graham Greene's novels, so the correlation is not significant." But I
won't.]
Anyhow: language-related plot elements in The Third Man:
- The point-of-view/narrator character (played by Joseph Cotton) is a
novelist.
- He has come to Vienna to write advertising/propaganda for his old
friend Harry Lime (Welles).
- He can't speak German, so has to rely on interpreters a lot, and
gets into difficulties when he hasn't got one.
- The people he meets have strange names, which he often gets wrong.
- He ends up having to give a lecture on a subject he knows nothing
about, and is lost for words. In answer to a question he says "Well,
yes, I suppose that is what I meant to say."
There's more at the link above.
Just in case you don't know this film, the most famous quote from it
is Harry's "cuckoo clock" speech before he disappears, which has
nothing to do with language:
(as rendered on IMDb)
Harry Lime: Don't be so gloomy. After all, it's not that awful. Like
the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had
warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced
Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland
they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace,
and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long, Holly.
- He ends up having to give a lecture on a subject he knows nothing
                 about, and is lost for words.
this used to be a common setup in Old(er) movies ... There's a
             fav. Hitchcock movie containing a scene like that.
_______________
i don't think of [The Third Man] as particularly Ling-intensive.
[A Clockwork Orange] or [To Build a Fire] (both with Burgess)
        or [My Fair Lady]
          are much more Ling-intensive.
This is not an animated film. It is a live action production so
please remeve rec.arts.anime.misc from your future postings
about live action films not made in Japan.
Neither is it a James Joyce book.
bliss
On 18/09/2024 16:20, Bobbie Sellers wrote:
This is not an animated film. It is a live action production so
please remeve rec.arts.anime.misc from your future postings
about live action films not made in Japan.
Neither is it a James Joyce book.
bliss
Perhaps you could convince HenHanna to remove all Usenet groups from
their postings.
If so, you would receive the grateful thanks of many.
Aside: Your use of the pronoun 'their' for the addle-brained Hen, is
that political correctness - or do you know something we don't? Just asking.
Le 18/09/2024 à 22:19, occam a écrit :
Aside: Your use of the pronoun 'their' for the addle-brained Hen, is
that political correctness - or do you know something we don't? Just
asking.
It's good to see 'addle-brained' taking the air.
An oldish Collins dictionary says 'addle' is a "back-formation from
'addled', from C13 'addle' rotten, from Old English 'adela' filth;
related to dialect German 'Addel' liquid manure."
Note to new parents: don't call your daughter 'Adela'.
Le 18/09/2024 à 22:19, occam a écrit :
Aside: Your use of the pronoun 'their' for the addle-brained Hen, is
that political correctness - or do you know something we don't? Just
asking.
It's good to see 'addle-brained' taking the air.
An oldish Collins dictionary says 'addle' is a "back-formation from
'addled', from C13 'addle' rotten, from Old English 'adela' filth;
related to dialect German 'Addel' liquid manure."
Note to new parents: don't call your daughter 'Adela'.
On 19/09/24 14:58, Hibou wrote:
Le 18/09/2024 à 22:19, occam a écrit :
Aside: Your use of the pronoun 'their' for the addle-brained Hen, is
that political correctness - or do you know something we don't? Just
asking.
It's good to see 'addle-brained' taking the air.
An oldish Collins dictionary says 'addle' is a "back-formation from
'addled', from C13 'addle' rotten, from Old English 'adela' filth;
related to dialect German 'Addel' liquid manure."
Note to new parents: don't call your daughter 'Adela'.
Chlamydia. That's a lovely name for a girl.
On 19/09/2024 at 08:19, Peter Moylan wrote:
On 19/09/24 14:58, Hibou wrote:
Le 18/09/2024 à 22:19, occam a écrit :
Aside: Your use of the pronoun 'their' for the addle-brained Hen, is
that political correctness - or do you know something we don't? Just
asking.
It's good to see 'addle-brained' taking the air.
An oldish Collins dictionary says 'addle' is a "back-formation from
'addled', from C13 'addle' rotten, from Old English 'adela' filth;
related to dialect German 'Addel' liquid manure."
Note to new parents: don't call your daughter 'Adela'.
Chlamydia. That's a lovely name for a girl.
Or even Veruca.
--
On 18/09/2024 21:51, Sam Plusnet wrote:
On 18/09/2024 16:20, Bobbie Sellers wrote:
This is not an animated film. It is a live action production so
please remeve rec.arts.anime.misc from your future postings
about live action films not made in Japan.
Neither is it a James Joyce book.
bliss
Perhaps you could convince HenHanna to remove all Usenet groups from
their postings.
If so, you would receive the grateful thanks of many.
Agree.
Aside: Your use of the pronoun 'their' for the addle-brained Hen, is
that political correctness - or do you know something we don't? Just asking.
On 18/09/2024 22:19, occam wrote:
On 18/09/2024 21:51, Sam Plusnet wrote:
On 18/09/2024 16:20, Bobbie Sellers wrote:
This is not an animated film. It is a live action production so
please remeve rec.arts.anime.misc from your future postings
about live action films not made in Japan.
Neither is it a James Joyce book.
bliss
Perhaps you could convince HenHanna to remove all Usenet groups from
their postings.
If so, you would receive the grateful thanks of many.
Agree.
Aside: Your use of the pronoun 'their' for the addle-brained Hen, is
that political correctness - or do you know something we don't? Just
asking.
Just avoiding a 'gendered pronoun because I don't know if 'they' are
male, female or otherwise.
On 19/09/2024 21:09, Sam Plusnet wrote:
On 18/09/2024 22:19, occam wrote:
On 18/09/2024 21:51, Sam Plusnet wrote:
On 18/09/2024 16:20, Bobbie Sellers wrote:
This is not an animated film. It is a live action production so
please remeve rec.arts.anime.misc from your future postings
about live action films not made in Japan.
Neither is it a James Joyce book.
bliss
Perhaps you could convince HenHanna to remove all Usenet groups from
their postings.
If so, you would receive the grateful thanks of many.
Agree.
Aside: Your use of the pronoun 'their' for the addle-brained Hen, is
that political correctness - or do you know something we don't? Just
asking.
Just avoiding a 'gendered pronoun because I don't know if 'they' are
male, female or otherwise.
As Athel says, why not call the prick 'his' or 'its'? It's his own designation ('Hen, short for Henry'). And if they object, they can go
fuck himself.
On 18/09/2024 22:19, occam wrote:
On 18/09/2024 21:51, Sam Plusnet wrote:
On 18/09/2024 16:20, Bobbie Sellers wrote:
This is not an animated film. It is a live action production so
please remeve rec.arts.anime.misc from your future postings
about live action films not made in Japan.
Neither is it a James Joyce book.
bliss
Perhaps you could convince HenHanna to remove all Usenet groups from
their postings.
If so, you would receive the grateful thanks of many.
Agree.
Aside: Your use of the pronoun 'their' for the addle-brained Hen, is
that political correctness - or do you know something we don't? Just asking.
Just avoiding a 'gendered pronoun because I don't know if 'they' are
male, female or otherwise.
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