Klarinet Archive - Posting 000631.txt from 2000/08

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Correcting each other
Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 10:08:32 -0400

Tony Pay wrote,
>...[C]an I encourage everyone, including me, to be even more on the
>lookout for each other's errors, as well as for our own?

Good idea. It's tempting to get sloppy on an e-list because in this format,
it's so easy to write something and fire it off into the electrons without
taking time to research it or even think about it much. For instance, a
couple of days ago, in the process of providing some correct information
about the history of the words "tomnoddy" and "attercop," I carelessly
misidentified the scene in which J.R.R. Tolkien used "attercop". (Thank you,
Bill Wright, for the correction!) That brings up the subject of *how* to
improve our chances of getting things right.

I know I could do better at *looking it up*, even if/when I'm pretty sure I
know something. Pretty sure isn't good enough for print, and since stuff on
the Internet persists indefinitely in an easily-accessible format, it might
as well be print. I like to name my source, too, because going to the
trouble of *using* (instead of just trying to remember) the primary source or
a reputable secondary source increases the chances that the information will
be accurate, and *naming* that source cuts down on arguments later. :-)

I only half-followed my own advice with "tomnoddy" and "attercop". I looked
up the words in the Oxford English Dictionary -- but I didn't bother to move
my carcass again to find their context in the Tolkien books, in a shelf about
three feet from where I was sitting and actually more accessible than the
massive dictionary! I think if I'd been regarding this list as
*publication*, I might have persuaded myself to expend a bit more effort on
research and documentation. Memory can play such odd tricks.

The devil is in the details because I'm most likely to get lost in Error's
Wood *not* when I'm wandering in strange territory, but when I think I know
my way too well to need to look at the map. Why do I keep on saying that I
own a Buffet Eb clarinet made in 1897? In reality, the serial number dates
from 1898. Hmm.... I distinctly remember that, when I looked up the serial
number shortly after buying this clarinet, I said to myself, "Oh, Buffet made
my eefer the year after _Dracula_ was published." _Dracula_ was published in
1897. Evidently, that word "after" began to flicker in and out of memory in
a way that strengthened the flimsy association with the novel. I make the
mistake even though I *did* look up the information. Sheesh!

Probably none of us gets it right all the time, but it won't hurt to try to
improve the score.

Lelia
~~~~~~~~~~
I always wanted to be a procrastinator, but I never got around to it.
~~~~~~~~~~

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