From "Don’t turn Notre Dame into a 'politically correct Disneyland'" by Harry Mount (The Spectator).
I agree with Mount, but I just want to descend into the mundane language issue: Is "wriggle room" the British version of "wiggle room," and, if so, are there subtle, interesting difference between wriggling and wiggling that we ought to take into account?
The OED does not have anything about "wriggle room," but it does have a definition for "wiggle room," though it's a "draft addition":
Another U.S. expression the OED notes is "get a wiggle on" (which means to hurry). English has so many words. Do we need both "wriggle" and "wiggle"? And we also have "squirm" and "writhe," to name 2 more. "Squirm" has the advantage of rhyming with "worm," but worms really seem more to wriggle... or is it wiggle? "Wiggle" is the official Bob Dylan choice.
I'm not that worked up about the Disneyfication of the interior of Notre Dame. The contents of those alcoves along the perimeter are transitory — they'll live out their little lives and pass away.
UPDATE: This post made me remember a song that I don't think I have thought of in over half a century:This song, from 1959, is by the stunningly unattractive men who called themselves The Playmates. Their hit that you're more likely to remember is "Beep Beep."
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56 comments:
I prefer something historic to be true to it's original nature. And though Notre Dame was "heavily adapted n a Gothic Revival style in the late nineteenth century....", that was the beauty, charm, and awe of it. To make it a statement on diversity, Saving the Planet, and probably some other approved and noble causes is to stain it, make a mockery of it, and use it for a 'religious' purpose other than the religion it was built to honor. It would be honoring the Religion of State.
The new design approach is an abomination, in my humble opinion. Must everything be made to look and symbolize the same thing that our current State religion demands? Be careful. State religions change every few years. Actual religions do not.
"And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves [and Mickey and Ariel and Genie and Simba and Cruella de Vil and Jiminey Cricket]."
One of the worst ideas ever, but entirely predictable.
"Do we need both 'wriggle' and 'wiggle'? "
Let's ask Bernie Sanders! But I would say "wriggle" implies more effort.
If you try to give your cat a bath, it will probably wriggle free, worms wriggle when you put the hook through them, you wiggle into those jeans half a size to small for you. "wriggle room" is kind of silly, and a mistake. If room is constricted that much, wiggling is the best that can be achieved. Yes, we need squirm and writhe.
Once again, the rule of good writing that says good writing shouldn't attract attention to itself, at least shouldn't take the reader outside the subject area of whatever you are writing about, has been violated. A really good turn of phrase that leaves the reader under the spell of the writing does not violate this rule. In this case he was probably trying too hard to avoid a cliché by giving it a new spin, and it was a clunker.
"English has so many words."
We need to keep up with the French.
i had Assumed that the plan was to turn it into a mosque? Wasn't that the point of the fire?
Althouse writes, "English has so many words. Do we need both "wriggle" and "wiggle"? And we also have "squirm" and "writhe," to name 2 more."
Let's see... Nightcrawlers wriggle on the hook, whereas sexy women in high heels wiggle when they walk. Three-month-old babies squirm when you're trying to change their diapers, whereas the damned writhe in Hell. Yeah, we need 'em all.
worms wriggle, bellies wiggle
Are the complaints an example of whining or whinging?
Two cultures. One language.
When you look at the history of the church, there are some real corkers. Events continue. In the end, our no doubt wiser descendants will probably blame the technology. Seems fair.
Lots of room for a golf course and a helter skelter ride, like they've added inside medieval English churches.
Hmm. To me, wiggle room comes from a non-interference fit, which leaves room to wiggle back and forth to get mating parts to fit, which is what I thought the phrase "wiggle room" came from, signifying that there was room to accommodate minor changes, such as in diplomacy or personal relationships.
Wriggle room to me denotes something living wriggling, which could in fact be the basis for the same concept, but to me it implies a lot more room for maneuvering around, if that makes sense.
Your last para is like a sensible pair of shoes one might wear when traipsing through the new Dame on vacation.
"yet to be rubber-stamped"
Why "rubber-stamped"? The author expects someone (who?) to approve this decision in a routine or thoughtless manner?
The cathedral is a property of the state of France, not the Cathic Church, and has been little more than a tourist attraction for some time now. I look forward to expansion of the gift shop to include more items appealing to Chinese tourists, like plush Winnie the Pooh dolls or DIY re-education camps for ethnic minorities. If they make a nice cafe with coffee & croissants to nosh while walking through, even better.
Ann Althouse is not too worked up about the maoist movement to erase history.
Does not want to accept the consequences of this position either.
If all of the historical examples of Catholicism are erased how will people be able to review the historical impact of Catholicism and what a terrible impact it has had on the lives of it's adherents supporting a long list of aristocratic bullshit?
Oh.
Seems kind of rational from a progressive standpoint. Why celebrate the genius of the past celebrating a God they no longer believe in, when you can create a transient set of values from today. Who knows, a few hundred years from now when global warming has killed the power grid - the progressives of that day will recreate Notre Dame in their own image discarding the "genius" of today.
A realistic design would focus on ease of convertibility to a mosque, given France's current demographics and direction.
When I was very young, I learned the word "wriggle" from the song "I Know an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly":
I know an old lady who swallowed a fly
I don't know why she swallowed a fly
I guess she'll die
I know an old lady who swallowed a spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
I don't know why she swallowed a fly
I guess she'll die
Etc. with larger & larger critters.
Only other use I remember is "wriggle like an eel".
I like the word afoot. I also like the word amuck. Akimbo. There are others.
You wriggle out of a tight situation, you wiggle into tight jeans. Wriggle involves escape, and not necessarily by wiggling, which just describes a type of motion.
Scot said...
When I was very young, I learned the word "wriggle" from the song "I Know an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly"
OMG! Never swallow a fly! you'll be dead of course!
Better to set it on fire again and burn it to ashes than to profane it in this way.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Wow! The way the world is going the “pre-trib” vs. “post-trib” debate may be resolved in my lifetime. Hmmm. I suspected the Antichrist would be a Democrat, but I expected him/her to be smarter than QuidProJoe or Kamala.
I feel like this can't possibly actually happen, even in France. I am Catholic and I've visited Notre Dame several times, including for Mass. It may technically be property of the state but it's very much a living cathedral and a deeply, deeply sacred place. And it's not just any cathedral, either it's NOTRE DAME for cripes sake. I'm a bit shocked by Althouse's blase response to these absurd ideas.
Did "Kitten" from FATHER KNOWS BEST sway with a wiggle when she walked? I don't remember. Maybe from the suppressed episode when Bud and Betty discovered their forbidden love?
Best word ever: mucilage. You can feel it as you say it.
"I'm not that worked up about the Disneyfication of the interior of Notre Dame."
Neither am I. If Catholics don't care about actual Christianity at one of the old centers of the faith, why should I? Anti-history is the only history now. It's only one small step on the way to Islam's takeover in France anyway.
Nothing to worry about. Let's just focus on more momentous issues, like wiggle vs. wriggle. Now that's something to get worked up about.
State religions change every few years. Actual religions do not.
It takes actual religions whole decades to change. Today's Methodists are significantly different from the Methodists of 1960, as are Episcopalians and Presbyterians. Even Evangelicals and Unitarians have changed, the latter mightily. And to compare today's Congregationalists (United Church of Christ) with the Congregationalists of Jonanthan Edwards' time is to find two religions that sound not just different but opposed.
Eat your heart out, Sondheim....The French have a long and hallowed history of anti-clericalism. They should use the interior space of Notre Dame to put tableaux of the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre and other religious atrocities. Perhaps some lectures on the role of the Church in the death St. Joan. What better way to honor the memory of Voltaire and Diderot......I'm glad to see that no one here has chosen to politicize the wriggle/wiggle controversy. People of good will and sound judgment can come down on either side of this issue.
In 75 years it will be a mosque if it hasn't been blown up by then.
It will be an awesome place to celebrate Kwanzaa, won't it.
"Beep Beep" was a staple of the Dr. Demento Show.
Dr. D & Carl Stalling (Loony Tunes/Merry Melodies) are my two main sources of musical education.
Awesome name.
Harry Mount.
The Catholic Church is headed by a communist now, so what difference does it really make?
It’s a perversion and destruction of one of our religion’s most important sites. The same would not be done to other faiths’ holy places, at least not by French authorities.
Meh, transitory stuff that’s easily discarded. If it helps to get the building restored, God Bless.
And I like the idea of projecting Bible verses in Mandarin. Talk about cultural imperialism….
Harry Mount??
"I'm a bit shocked by Althouse's blase response to these absurd ideas."
Perhaps she believes that the cultural Marxist will have more respect her sacred law than a 2000 year old religion. After all, it's not like they are threatening to overturn same sex marriage or Roe v. Wade.
I don't have an issue with the attention paid to Africa and Asia, though I normally deplore Europe's self-hatred. Africa and Asia are where Catholicism is expanding; it's contracting in the West.
The proposal is not that different from what has been done to Hagia Sophia really.
Is this an actual real proposal or another of those "wouldn't it be thought-provoking if we dud x, y, orz?" proposals that artists and self- described intellectuals like to do?
It won't be Disneyworld without Mickey Le Souris.
"What is love? Three feet of heaven in a ponytail." --- Joe Biden
mezzrow writes, "Are the complaints an example of whining or whinging? Two cultures. One language."
True? Debatable. I'd go so far as to postulate that no two words in the English language are perfect synonyms, that all synonyms possess subtly different colors of meaning such that one could use whining and whinging in the same context and not commit a redundancy or say the same thing over again. ��
Furthermore, whine has an additional meaning that whine lacks. For example, all high-bypass turbofan engines whine, whereas none of them whinge, except, perhaps, a particularly needful RB-211. ��
Well since there are no sins anymore there is no need for the confessionals
Stunningly unattractive guys in The Playmates? Well the good news is that two of the three members of the group have since passed on, so they won't know that our host dissed them.
Now I might agree that those guys had been whupped with an ugly stick, but I'd never tell the world. They were just three high school buddies from Waterville Connecticut who started out calling themselves "The Nitwits". Shoulda stopped there.
They have to destroy the cathedral in order to save it.
In a way it makes sense. Noone will care enough about the place to set it on fire again.
Who is getting the abortion concession stand? They'll make a killing!
The clear alignment between the islamic supremacists and the western left continues apace.
Holy cow...Elinor Donahue is 84! How on earth...? I am feeling old now.
“mikee said...
Best word ever: mucilage. You can feel it as you say it.
11/27/21, 9:42 AM”
Pus brings an image and an odor to mind. Powerful word pus is.
If it was expected that at December 9th's meeting (who is to be meeting, I'm not sure) that the schemes of Fr Drouin et al would be 'rubber-stamped', I wonder if the scandalous behavior of Mons Aupetit will upset the 'plan'. Fr Drouin is very much a partisan of never-ending so-called 'liturgical reform' (and as such quite obnoxious to many of us) and the archbishop's creature in all of this. We shall see.
So is the cathedral not a Catholic property, owned and operated by the church? Is it public property instead?
When I was there I was under the impression it was a working congregation and Catholic cathedral. If it is still, how do all these idiots have any say in its reconstruction?
In what part of the building are the Muslim
prayer rooms and the Satanic shrine?
Asking for some friends.
I would have gone with "Chantilly Lace," but I wasn't around back then -- or not old enough to remember anything.
Chantilly lace and a pretty face
And a pony tail a hangin' down
That wiggle in the walk
And giggle in the talk
Makes the world go round
There ain't nothin' in the world
Like a big eyed girl
That makes me act so funny
Make me spend my money
Make me feel real loose like a long necked goose
Like a girl, oh baby that's what I like
Note the pony tail and the wiggle. Somebody copied somebody or influenced somebody, and as the Big Bopper was already gone when the Playmates came out with their single he probably wasn't the copy cat.
Ξ
Disneyfication of one sort or another is probably inevitable. French cathedrals may go back to the 13th century, but touristculturewise they were still stuck in the 1940s when I was over there. The people who gave us son et lumière shows are ready to try something new.
Don't remember either of these songs but Althouse is right, seriously unattractive guys.
There's a chapter on Notre Dame in The Secret Lives of Buildings by Edward Hollis. Some chapters less interesting than others, but the discussion of Notre Dame, the Parthenon, and the horses at San Marco are quite interesting. I think there's also a chapter on Haghia Sophia, plus some more modern stuff (e.g., a chapter about Las Vegas and a disastrous housing project in Britain).
--gpm
the Hagia Sofia of the West...
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