I'm Baaack!

It’s been awhile since the Hermit Philosopher put fingers to keyboard, but he’s been busy. In particular, he finished a number of books in the last couple of months. The first was Flaubert’s masterpiece Madame Bovary, a work the HP had long heard of but never bothered to read. Quelle dommage, for it brought back fond memories of Tolstoy’s first true novel, Анна Каренина (i.e., Anna Karenina for you Anglophones).

The second was the little gem shown here. As a confessed word nerd – why is that not spelled “werd nerd”? – I was intrigued by this spirited romp through the inner workings of the Merriam-Webster company and the art of writing dictionary definitions. As anyone who’s tried it knows, that's a hella hard thing to do well.

One of the many things I learned from Word by Word is that there’s a name for my feeling and love for language: sprachgefül. I also learned that you can’t have sprachgefül; instead, sprachgefül has you. The author, Kory Stamper, says it's “like a Teutonic imp that settles itself at the base of your skull and hammers at your head every time you read something like ‘crispy-fried rice’ on a menu.” 

Does that mean regular rice that has been flash fried, or does it refer to what we know as “fried rice” prepared in a new and exciting way? The Teutonic imp giggles and squeezes my brain a little harder even as I type this. 

Sprachgefül is also the condition that makes me want to take a marking pen and insert "more than" on a certain poster in the Vons grocery store near my home. It’s not vandalism if it’s correcting English usage, right?

The third book that had the HP’s attention was The Law of Healthcare Administration (8th ed.) The gestation period was about 22 months, and she weighed in at almost exactly three pounds when born in February. 

Ordinary prose is inadequate to express fully my appreciation for the editorial team at Health Administration Press (HAP) that made this possible, so let me try doing so in a different way (and with props to Ms. Stamper)—

ed•i•tor \‘e-dǝ-tǝr\ n -s : a person who prepares something (such as books or other printed materials) for publication; especially : one who reads, alters, adapts, and corrects a health law text numerous times while simultaneously asking insightful questions and convincing the writer that though the MS is good, it is not yet as good as it could be. < Shout out to Theresa Rothschadl and Janet Davis, my steadfast and patient editors par excellence and their production team at HAP; they are all worth their weight in gold! >

In other words, the Hermit Philosopher – this harmless drudge – could not have made his contribution to the literature of health care law without the help of these dedicated professionals. As Tolstoy would say: большое спасибо! (Bol'shoye spasibo! Many thanks!)

FYI the textbook is available at https://www.ache.org/publications/product.aspx?pc=2326

До свидания! (Do svidaniya! Good-bye!)