Strict ruling
Sally Baker cracks the whip on Latin plurals:
Who would have thought that the Max Mosley affair would find its way into this column, or that it would give rise to a style question beyond that of what the well-undressed sado-masochist is wearing this season? For those of you who missed Thursday's Diary item, which posed but didn't answer it, the question is: what is the correct plural of dominatrix?
Apparently in court this week, Mr Mosley's QC favoured dominatrixes, while The News of the World's QC's classical education led him via indices and appendices to dominatrices. In advance of Mr Justice Eady's verdict I consulted a much higher authority, the chief revise editor of this newspaper, who handed down his judgment that it is the latter. Case closed, and not a double entendre or cod German phrase in sight; I deserve a medal.
The question on everyone's tongue - and no cracks about fellatrices - is why would you need more than one? A dominatrix isn't a team player. If she needs help, maybe it's time for the old dog to learn some new trices.
Posted on 10:29 AM by Mary Jackson
Comments
20 Jul 2008
Artemis
and no cracks about fellatrices
Ah, you know us too well, we few, we happy few, we band of cunning linguists.
20 Jul 2008
reactionry
An Orful Oral Dissertation
Or: Knights of the Round Bowl
Thanks to Artemis for remembering or reinventing cunning linguist, which I recall being used to describe a leading public intellectual*, who, according to those betters of mine whose judgement I trust, is, although brilliant, sans common sense. I haven't the foggiest if he is by now also sans teeth and Google's "Did you mean to search for...?" function makes it difficult to estimate the number of thwarts (™ MJ) for "Noam Chompsky."
*Nothing human should be alien to us and please feel free to bite down on this on St. Quispin's Day, ye Happy Band of Brothers of the Breakfast Bowl:
Hat tip to Terentius
20 Jul 2008
reactionry
I'm still unable to find a YouTube of the scene in Sid & Nancy wherein Johnny Rotten asks a dominatrix something like, "Do you know that there's a naked man hanging from the ceiling?" and I would be ever so grateful if Hugh, Mary or Paul B. would translate the "safety word", (probably quite different from the previously posted "I am not abused" of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert) from Eurotrip's account of an American's quest to satisfy his wanderlust at Vandersexx; only to suffer the vandalizing of his inner sphinctum in a manner not unlike what the Vandals, who lent their name to Andalusia, may or might have suffered at the hands or members of Muslim conquerors.
21 Jul 2008
Artemis
Thanks Reactionry, that takes me back to the original Clash of Civilizations , Quisp vs. Quake.
