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November 22, 1968 - Image 8

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1968-11-22

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

A Fascinating 'Lexicon': Safire's
Splendid 'New Language of Politics'

Words used by politicians, states-
men and diplomats "to inspire or
inflame, to rally or destroy" form
an interesting terminology.
William Safire, in "The New
Language of Politics" (subtitled
An anecdotal dictionary of catch-
words, slogans and political us-
age"), published by Random House,
provides a guide to these terms
and enlightens while he entertains
and inspires a deeper interest in
political actions.
It's a marvelous accumulation
of sayings by the world's leading
figures, including American Presi-
dents, British prime ministers, Is-
raeli leaders and politicians in '
many other lands.

We learn, for example that "In
1826 Benjamin Disraeli entitled
a chapter in his novel 'Vivian
Grey,' All Things to All Men,'
using the phrase in its current
sense."

Safire has a reference to Israel
Foreign Minister Abba Eban who
"gave a new wrinkle to the defini-
tion (of detente) in 1966 after his
country attacked a Jordanian town
in an effort to halt Arab terrorism.
He called it `demonstrative deter-
rence.' "
In his elaboration on "Peace
at Any Price," the author offers.
among others, the following: "Ber-
nard Baruch, urging the United
Nations to adopt a plan for atomic
weapons control in 1946, gave the
phrase an added dimension: 'The
solution will require apparent sac-
rifice in pride and position, but
better pain as the price of peace
than death as the price of war."
This volume is filled with so
many fascinating facts and inter-
esting quotations that a mere re-
view could hardly explain its
notable aspects. A lexicon and a
dictionary can be commented upon
only with selections of the most
impressive factors that distinguish
i t.
But there is enough in "The New
Language of Politics" to spark
excitement over the extent of its
word and phrase treasures. For
instance, in describing the "Melt-
ing Pot" the author offers a defini-
tive little essay in which he states:

"The process by which immi-
grants become Americanized; a na-
tion that assimilates all nationali-
ties and cultures.
"The phrase originated in 'The
Melting Pot,' a turn-of-the-century
play by Israel Zangivill, and was
quickly accepted as expressing a
sense of pride in America's tradi-
tion of immigration, alongside
E71171141 Lazarus' poem beginning
'Give me your tired, your poor ..
A predecessor phrase was 'Asylum
of the Oppressed of Every Nation.'
from the 1856 Democratic platform.
"However, the big-city politician
who takes the phrase seriously is
soon disabused. Nathan Glazer and
Daniel P. Moynihan point out in
their study of ethnic patters in
New York City, 'Beyond the Melt-
ing Pot,' the Italian, Irish, Jewish,
Negro, and Puerto Rican commu-
nities of New York are more seva-
rate than similar. Ticket-balancing
and ethnic appeals are still im-
portant to the big-city vote-getter.
New York Citu is not a melting
pot," Thomas E. Delve?, told re-
porter John Gunther in 1947, "it's
a boiling pot."
"Least assimilated. of course. is
the nonwhite American. Political
leaders in recent nears have ex -
horted all Americans to annly the
meltiva-not princlole to Nemves:
John F. Kennedy in a 1963 civil
riohts messaae. cello'? the denial of
equal access to public accommoda-

Charleston Day Camp
for 70 Negro Children

CHARLESTON, S.C. (JTA) — A
group of 70 3- to 5-year-old Negro
child;en from Charleston poverty
areas attended a two-month day
camp this summer in a program
arranged through the cooperative
efforts of the Charleston Jewish
Community, the local section of
the National Council of Jewish
Women, the Brith Sholom Neth
Israel Synagogue and the Office
of Economic Opportunity.

Lions "a daily insult which has no
place in a country proud of its
heritage — th,e heritage of the
melting pot, of equal right, of one
nation and one people."
"According to the melting-pot
theory, immigrants would become
Americanized and assimilated. The
existence of persistent patterns of
social, cultural and educational
life within large cities shows that
this theory did not materialize. A
more realistic approach, called
`cultural pluralism,' is now cur-
rent."

There are some words that chal-
lenge the scholarship in Weinreich's
"Yiddish-English English-Yiddish
Dictionary" and Leo Rostin's "The
Joys of Yiddish." Commenting at
length on the word "Mishmash"
Safire maintains that it is "an
English word in use for five cen-
turies. Safire states that he had
started to write about the word as
if it were of Yiddish origin but
was advised of its English origin,
and he states in this respect:
"When the copy editor saw the
revision, she penciled a note in the
margin paraphrasing the punch-
line of an old Jewish joke: 'Funny,
it doesn't look Jewish.' She backed
up her doubts with a copy of the

Groucho Marx letter." And the let-
ter to which this reference is made
is part of the "Mishmash" defini-
tion and it reads:

To the Hon. William R. Scranton
Governor of Pennsylvania
February 24, 1964
Dear Sir:
If you contemplate campaign-
ing in any more Jewish neigh-
borhoods, I suggest you learn
how to pronounce 'mishmash."
"It is not pronounced 'mash'
as you said on 'Meet the Press,'
but rather as though it were
spelled MOSH.
Sincerely Yours,
Groucho Marx

So, Safire says that while "mish-
mash" is not of Yiddish origin the
MOSH pronunciation stems from
Yiddish influence.
A reviewer has so much to tempt
him in the Safire compilation that
no matter how extensive the com-
ments on the book, they will
emerge as all-too-brief. There is
so much to quote, there are num-
erous angles, the current political
terms, the obsolete, the phrases
that made history.
The consolation for a brief re-
view is the encouragement to read-
ers to utilize the excellent product.

8—Friday, November 22, 1968

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Israel Culture Center for Retired Scholars Planned

(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)

LONDON Plans to establish an
international cultural center in Is-
rael that would serve as a retreat
for retired scholars and the base
for seminars that would attract
scholars and students from all over
the world were outlined to the Jew-
ish Telegraphic Agency Tuesday
by Dr. Joshua Bierer, psychiatrist
and pioneer in the field of social
psychiatry.
Dr. Bier said he had discussed
the plan with members of the Is-
rael government and with experts
who responded favorably. But it is
very complex and will require
several years to mature, he said.
Dr. Bierer said he envisaged
'eventually an entire town where



retired scholars and visitors could
acquire flats or homes. It would
serve as a holiday center for peo-
ple who teach or are engaged in
research. It would give retired
scholars a sense of purpose and an
outlet for their energies, he said.

Advice is a drug on the market;
the supply always exceeds the de-
mand. —H. W. Shaw

Detroit.LI 9-6161

FE 8-9222

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