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Date: | Wed, 24 Jan 2001 01:28:33 +0000 |
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In Shakespeare's Tempest, Ariel deceitfully sings to Ferdinand:
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
This rich language has so captivated the ears of generations of writers that
they feel
compelled to describe as "sea changes" not only alterations that are "rich and
strange," but,
less appropriately, those that are simply large or sudden. Always popular, this
cliché has
recently become so pervasive as to make "sea" an almost inextricable companion
to "change"
whatever its meaning. In its original context, it meant nothing more complex
than "a change
caused by the sea." Since the phrase is almost always improperly used and is
greatly over-used, it has suffered a swamp change into something dull and
tiresome. Avoid the phrase; otherwise you will irritate those who know it and
puzzle those who do not.
From the Really White North,
Ross.
--
Ross Mayhew: Schooner Specimen Shells: Http://www.schnr-specimen-shells.com
"We Specialize in the Unusual"
Phone: (902) 876-2241; Fax: (902) - 479 - 1863
But try to find "something for Everyone"!!
Snail Mail: 349 Herring Cove Rd, P.O Box 20005, Halifax, N.S., Canada, B3R 2K9.
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