Stan Kelly-Bootle:[to JM: On second thoughts, what other words could Humbert
Humbert have delicately employed in lieu of the "delta"? ]:.."it’s a well-ploughed mine-field: English being both
enriched and bothered by so many Anglo-Saxon and Latinate synonyms. For diverse
historico-socio-linguistic reasons, the latter are associated with scientific
and religious scholarship, while the former are rated as less learned or even
downright crude... That the Anglo-Saxon plainspeak intimate body-part words are
indeed shorter (and often wrongly considered less euphonious) than the alien,
unEnglish imposed Latin “refinements” (ironically, the ink-horn terms are
always the least horny!) is a mixed blessing for poets and novelists...the
natural-native four-letter words for faeces, coitus, vagina and penis still
leave a nasty taste ...En passant, I’ve never agreed with VN’s belief that the
word “sex” is inherently nasty. HH’s
choice of alternatives to “delta” (delicate or otherwise!) are NOT the same as
VN’s choices! The novelist is rightly constrained (within obvious
delta-limits!) by HH’s specific European multilingual-cultural
background, close but not identical to Nabokov’s. The narrative-linguistic
context is also delicate: HH is talking and reacting to an American-English
audience, with much humour and even open disdain (especially with Lo’s hip-girly
slang).
JM: Forty years ago, in Brazil ( I don't know if it was
also practiced in any other country), to speak good English meant avoiding most
Latinate synonyms and to stick to the
Anglo-Saxon.We had to say
"wealthy", not "rich", "worried", not "preoccupied", "tired," not "fatigued,"
"hand-made,"not "manufactured".... We also learned that in more
sophisticated environments, only (perhaps when, under Roman influence, all those
blond barbarians learned to eat cooked meat) "swine," i,e "pigs,"would be called
"pork." When I started to
read Nabokov I was in for a big surprise, but it was mittigated by such
characters, as Humbert Humbert and Kinbote. Later I was ready and anxious for
more ( but I still bear a grudge against N's use of
"viatic").
Polysyllabic swear-words are not only more euphonious: they
may be accented and extended to great effect. Nevertheless, I'm still uninformed
about HH's choices, or VN's own, to gently remain within "delta-limits." Only
four-letter words come to my mind! Or silly euphemisms: is it possible that
those blond barbarians...?
I thank Carolyn Kunin [I think you have
experienced a perfectly wonderful Conmal moment. Shade & Kinbote would be
delighted with it] for her inventiveness: a "Conmal moment," indeed! I wish
I had set that trap on
purpose.