The Gay Gentleman

The Gay Gentleman

My novel 'Plews' was released several weeks ago, and a few people have had time to read at least part way through the book. Talking to the people who have taken the time to read 'Plews', I often receive the feedback that I use words that the reader does not know or understand. Some of this can be explained by the fact that the mountain men used many words which were their own, often corruptions of French terms (Plews and Booshway to name two). Other words which occur frequently, are a kind of technical jargon for tools which we do not use any more (like frizzen and cordelle). The use of these words was necessary to refer to the things they used and maintain the atmosphere of early nineteenth century fur trappers.

The use of other words however, cannot be justified through context, but are simply words which have fallen out of the common vernacular. I take this feedback to heart, as I have no wish for the style of my writing to become too self-conscious or distracting.

That being said, allow me to offer some defense for using terms which are not in the parlance of our time. When I use a certain word, I am careful that it be the right word in that moment. It may not be a word which is used regularly in speech or prose, but if, for instance, I am describing an Irishman's cadence of speech, I will gladly use the word brogue, as opposed to accent, as it is more specific. Also, the elegance of phrase means a great deal to me, and if the word 'cyclopean' supports the poetry of a given sentence better than 'towering' I will not hesitate to use it if circumstance permits. I feel justified in doing so when I remember Mark Twain's quote “The difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning-bug”.

Another justification that I offer myself when I receive the above feedback, is that every word we lose from our everyday language diminishes our capacity to communicate. In this present world of hash-tags and one-hundred forty character communication, I fear that our ability to share complex thoughts is being diminished. George Orwell seemed to share this same fear when he wrote:

“Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thought-crime literally impossible because there will be no words in which to express it... Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller.”

This brings me to the title of this post: The Gay Gentleman. I chose the title because it contains two words which no longer mean what they once did, and we have no real term to replace them. Gay used to refer to a mood of festive happiness, but it has lost that meaning all together. We had a perfectly serviceable word (a little clunky perhaps) in homosexual, so why did it need to be replaced? Where is the replacement for the former usage of gay? Even now, if I said that I was in a festive and happy mood, I can only imagine the looks I would receive, so not only has the word been lost, but the very concept cannot be easily described.

The word gentleman has received the same treatment over the last hundred years or so. It used to mean (according to C.S. Lewis) “one who had a coat of arms and some landed property”. Lewis goes on to say that the word gentleman (in his time) meant one who has generally good behavior. The current usage of the word, if it is used at all, seems to mean a man who does not make sexual advances during a date. We have no word to refer to someone who was born into a family of status and property. We have ceased to use the word, and even the concept of a difference in social or financial class seems alien to many of us even though the reality still exists. Is the modern term 'one percenter' really an acceptable replacement for 'gentleman'? I certainly hope not.

So, as I start my next novel, I will try to keep the language succinct and easy to read. I will try to avoid using ten-dollar words just to prove that I can, but if a certain character is what we would call 'shy' and 'quiet' you should brace yourself for the word taciturn, because it is probably coming up.

9-29-2014

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P.S. All quotes used without permission of any kind. Come and get me coppers!