Thanks Arthur, the incident was a real one, it happened twenty years ago
when I was in technical sales and not writing poetry, though its always
stayed with me, ironic almost to hear something poetic in a chemical plant
where everything is purely functional. The man I was with just kept using
the word. Interesting the spin you put on the two words as being class
barriers. We didn't have grammar schools in Scotland so perhaps the wider
democracy with vocabulary was inherent.
bw
James
>From: arthur seeley <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Pennine Poetry Works <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: New Sub: A Word
>Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 16:58:09 +0100
>
>Hi James, a bit of a problem here the word is 'deliquescent' unless you
>are
>rendering it phonetically where it should then need to be in inverted
>commas.
>Lovely word and I remember it from my School Certificate Chemistry and
>remember that copper sulphate in crystal form was possessed of this quality
>, apart from its wonderful blueness. Another favourite word was allotropic.
>I was 12 and felt really grown-up being allowed to use words of such rich
>sounding profundity.
>Suction is a bit of a word for mechanics and those with greasy hands not
>used by Grammar School boys. LOL.----- Original Message -----
>From: "James Bell" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 4:29 PM
>Subject: New Sub: A Word
>
>
> > a word
> >
> >
> > we met at the
> > bp chemical plant
> > with vast vats
> > that contained
> > liquids that
> > he said
> > was delaquiscent
> >
> > what a word
> > delaquiscent
> >
> > so eloquent
> > for a place with
> > pipes like endless
> > snakes with stinking
> > steam and tanks
> > of arcane fluid
> > that were
> > of course
> > delaquescent
> >
> > that was
> > a longtimeago
> > in a place so
> > technical
> > it was wordles
> > except for
> > this one
> > that
> > came from his lips
> > with respect
> > with awe
> > or was it just
> > the one that
> > functioned
> > best
> > for its sound
> > its multi-syllabic
> > sweep
> > that was inclusive
> > enough to include
> > what was needed
> > from a suction
> > machine
> >
> > now there's a word -
> > suction
> >
> >
> >
> > bw
> > James
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
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