tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post3467748366806429860..comments2024-02-28T05:25:12.859-05:00Comments on English, Jack: A title misparsedBretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02870575277556244419noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-53899606242134276282016-04-10T12:19:12.747-05:002016-04-10T12:19:12.747-05:00As a child, I made the same mistake as johnwhoever...As a child, I made the same mistake as johnwhoever with a jar of peanut butter marked "Add salt to taste".Kate Buntinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17223976536411967222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-50857186835002598352014-11-28T02:21:39.060-05:002014-11-28T02:21:39.060-05:00I had the same thing happen until I read the book....I had the same thing happen until I read the book. Another interesting title misparsing is Conrad's <i>The Secret Sharer</i>.strangeguitarshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07731482201608174743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-46150711937496565482014-09-18T12:53:47.620-05:002014-09-18T12:53:47.620-05:00> When I was a lad in Liverpool the expression ...> When I was a lad in Liverpool the expression 'as queer as a clockwork orange', pre-dating the film, was a derogatory epithet for a homosexual.<br /><br />My understanding is that "as queer as a clockwork orange" originally just meant "very queer", and that it only became associated with homosexuality when the adjective "queer" in general did.Ranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01369980917358096502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-66229669161634526992014-09-18T04:49:15.576-05:002014-09-18T04:49:15.576-05:00Thanks, John! I didn't know the expression was...Thanks, John! I didn't know the expression was associated with homosexuality. I like your reading of "dilute to taste". I'm sure I've got other misparsings I've noticed and then forgotten about. If I bring any to mind, I'll post about them.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02870575277556244419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-3641293733857521642014-09-18T04:00:40.287-05:002014-09-18T04:00:40.287-05:00When I was a lad in Liverpool the expression '...When I was a lad in Liverpool the expression 'as queer as a clockwork orange', pre-dating the film, was a derogatory epithet for a homosexual. Your misparsing never occurred to me. (Though whether I actually heard this expression or just read it in Fritz Spiegl's <i>Lern Yerself Scouse</i> is lost in the mists of time.)<br /><br />My own misparsing from around the same time, and I suspect I was not alone, was the expression 'dilute to taste' to be found on bottles of cordial. I always read it as 'in order to taste', whereas now I realize it means 'according to taste'. (Sorry I won't put the grammar tags in.)johnwhoevernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-41664242693973361052014-09-06T15:45:55.023-05:002014-09-06T15:45:55.023-05:00I, too, originally misparsed the title, and realiz...I, too, originally misparsed the title, and realized the correct parse only several years after reading it. I don't remember what finally made it "click" for me, though . . .Ranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01369980917358096502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31830497.post-86114038897498199552014-09-04T21:40:52.244-05:002014-09-04T21:40:52.244-05:00The novel is full of play on words, wordplay, word...The novel is full of play on words, wordplay, word games etc.; parsing the title in different ways may well be part of the fun. (Think of all those Russian words/phrases there, which the reader isn't exactly expected to understand.)<br /><br />I dare say you were lucky. The fun was spoiled for me when I saw the translated title in Japanese (before I read the original). It was rendered [clockwork-no] [orange], with the postposition 'no' clearly marking 'clockwork' as modifier. Whoever did that owes me a huge bottle of vodka.Q Higuchihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12065110305928472008noreply@blogger.com