pullulate

"a pullulating mosh pit"

Fightstar live at the Glasgow

ABC 30th April 2009 -Flicker

FROM THE COMPACT OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY:

pullulate,

/pul yoo layt/

• verb

1 reproduce or spread so as to become very widespread.

2 teem with life and activity.

□ pullulation noun

□ pullulating adj.

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FROM ONELOOK SEARCH DICTIONARY:

pullulate

▸ verb: become abundant; increase rapidly

▸ verb: breed freely and abundantly

▸ verb: be teeming, be abuzz ("Her mind pullulated with worries")

▸ verb: produce buds, branches, or germinate

▸ verb: move in large numbers ("Beggars pullulated in the plaza")

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WORD ORIGIN

1619, from L. pullulatus, pp. of pullulare "grow, sprout," from pullulus, dim. ofpullus "young animal." —OnLine Etymology Dictionary

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PULLULATE IN USE: DESCRIBING A MOSH PIT

mosh pit: Mosh is a type of dance. Moshing is typically done in a mosh pit or circle pit. —Answers.com.

Come December, [director Michael Haneke's film "The White Ribbon"] will go into general release, though the chances of its landing in your local multiplex are slim — no great loss, in the eyes of the director, for whom the modern movie theatre is a pullulating mosh pit. "I hate the smell of popcorn," he told me, adding, "I rarely go to the cinema."—Anthony Lane. "Happy Haneke: Michael Haneke and his movies," The New Yorker, Oct. 5, 2009, 60.

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PULLULATE IN USE: DESCRIBING A WRITER'S SENTENCE STYLE

[Martin] Amis [in his novel Money] throws out coinages like a slot-machine paying out: John Self's dispirited, sagging apartment is "the Sock", a haircut is "a rug-rethink". There are sentences that pullulate with excess, descriptions that hum with mad vitality. Self moans: "By now I am a crackling sorcerer of grub and booze." — Martin, Tim. "Amis's 'Money': An unfilmable book? There's no such thing." Telegraph.co.uk, Nov. 12, 2009.

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PULLULATING IN USE: DESCRIBING CAIRO'S ISLAMIC QUARTER

There’s a story about Cairo: that one day they pulled down the wall of an empty lot to find 50,000 people living inside, hitherto unsuspected. A walk through the pullulating streets of the Islamic Quarter (nearest metro Ataba) shows you just how crowded the city can be. Prepare for sensory overload, as soap-sellers, silversmiths and spice merchants foist their wares upon you between the hammams, caravanserai (roadside inns) and tea shops. —Sean Thomas. "Cairo: The Complete Guide," Times Online, Sept. 18, 2008.

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PULLULATING IN USE: DESCRIBING AN ART OBJECT

"Saffron Cream"

by Douglas Remy

I greatly enjoy creating patterns and symmetries, but machines will always create more perfect ones. So I also enjoy “busting up” or disrupting these patterns in various ways. In this piece, I have used a great many small objects, both industrial and decorative, to produce an extruded mosaic that is simply pullulating with patterns. The overall impression is one of order and harmony, but a closer inspection reveals an abundance of dislocations and asymmetries. —Douglas Remy, Doremiarts.com.

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PULLULATING IN EUPHUISTIC CONTEXTS

With such "energetic" definitions as breed freely and abundantly; increase rapidly;produce buds, branches, or germinate; move in large numbers; be teeming, be abuzz, as well as such synonyms as bourgeon, germinate, shoot, sprout, spud, pour, stream, swarm, and teem (WordNet), the verb pullulate veritably hums with unique intensity and imminent expectation.

That charged dynamic makes it attractive to writers who engage in the excesses the euphuistic style of writing. We're not talking here about euphemism — substituting an inoffensive or mild expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant — or euphony — combinations of words pleasing to the ear. We're talking about euphuism [e yoo' foo ism] which, as Garner reports,

derives from John Lyly's play entitled Euphues (1578) in which the characters speak in an affected, highly ornate style. Thus the term now denotes a convoluted, embellished prose style. —Bryan A. Garner. A Dictionary of Modern American Usage. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, 266.

Unlike the well-tempered sentences above (describing a style of writing, a mosh pit, the streets of Cairo, and a work of art), the sample sentences that follow (describing a Canadian rock band and a former President of the United States) will come across, I'm sure you'll notice, as feverish and forced, using intensified vocabularies —energized here and there by the verb pullulate — each writer aiming for an overtone that is energetic in its pace and almost ecstatic in its urgency. (Yes, I know: that last sentence itself borders on or, perhaps, even crosses over into the euphuistic mode.)

PULLULATING IN EUPHUISTIC PROSE DESCRIBING "LOVE'S ORDEALS" BY WAY OF A TOAD METAPHOR

From The Dacios'

"Monkeys Blood" album.

Permanently stimulated by a synapse twisting brew of rock n’ roll sour mash, The Dacios [a Canadian rock band] are esteemed for their white-heat live performances.

But there’s more to this [band] than the brain pulverising roar of a supercharged V12 running full throttle through a nuclear junkyard. Linda J’s lyrical concoctions are a virulent antivenom which she expectorates in heaving torrents against the darkening forces of urban banality. Her unflinching psychic insights wrench the cancerous lesions of modern life into the glare and splay love’s ordeals on a dissection table like so many toads, their entrails pullulating with rheumy ooze.

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PULLULATING IN EUPHUISTIC PROSE DESCRIBING GEORGE W. BUSH:

George W. Bush, you condemnable addlebrained purulent flunk. If there is such a thing as hell you and that sallow malignancy Richard Cheney should be confined to it. To a creep feeder in hell. And each hellish afternon hosed down with pigwash. And every hellish evening left to fall asleep, biting each other, on a pullulating bed of chattering flesh fly larvae. —Corrente.blogspot.com.

Though euphuistic sentences such as these move forward a-wrenching and a-puffing, laboring and belaboring points in extremis, I find they can, in small doses, be fun to read, even if only to smile at the romping enthusiasm of their authors.

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A MEMORY DEVICE

The editors at mnemonicdictionary.com offer this tip on remembering the meaning of pullulate: "Think of pollination, [which] spreads freely and abundantly."

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auto-da-fe

Auto-da-fe

by Francisco Ricci, 1683

noun

[auto-dǝ-fay']

auto-da-fe: The public burning of a heretic who had been sentenced by the Inquisition.—Chambers 21 Century Dictionary

In the popular imagination, "auto-da-fé" has come to refer to burning at the stake for heresy. —Wikipedia

18c: Portuguese, meaning "act of the faith." Also in Spanish: auto-de-fe.

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AUTO-DA-FE IN USE

As [Rush Limbaugh] and Sarah Palin conduct their auto-da-fé of moderate Republicans — “Moderates by definition have no principles,” he told his radio audience on Monday — Limbaugh is more than ever the face of his party, as Rahm Emanuel said.

He’s also the mouth.

—Maureen Dowd. "Who Are You Calling a Narcissist, Rush? OP-ED, The New York Times. November 4, 2009.

Maureen Dowd could have used any number of words or phrases as the direct object of her sentence — dress down, rebuke, remonstrance, lambasting, reproval, censure, repremand, to mention a few — but she was interested in something more dramatic, more attention getting. So she chose the rhetorical figure called hyperbole, which Richard Lanham defines as "exaggerated or extravagant terms used for emphasis and intended to be understood literally; self-conscious exaggeration."

Dowd achieved the hyperbolic effect by using auto-da-fe as an extreem metaphor for the chastisements Rush Limbaugh and Sara Palin had directed at moderate Republicans. What Dowd intends to transfer from the events of an auto-da-fe are not the horrific circumstances of the event (described below), but the element of rigid autocracy, which the Catholic Church exercised to keep its members in line. For Limbaugh and Palin, the authority would be assumed authority.

Later in the article, Dowd delineates the arrogance she sees in the actions of Limbaugh and Palin:

But the tactics of Limbaugh, Palin, Cheney & Fille are more cynical: They spin certainty, ignoring their side’s screw-ups, and they exploit patriotism, labeling all critics as traitors.

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We also find auto-da-fe used in its extended sense in an editorial title from The Washington Times :

Obama's auto da fe

In a unprecedented move, the Obama administration essentially fired TK Waggoner, the chief executive of General Motors. This is unheard of in American history and sends an ominous signal to millions of shareholders for whom the auto maker is part of their retirement plans.

The Washington Times, March 31, 2009

As with the Limbaugh-Palin example, the author of this editorial title selected out the element of rigid autocracy from the auto-da-fe event, not the horrific circumstances of the ceremony. In addition, auto plays a pun, a type of pun called an•ta•nac'la•sis, which employs a word in two different senses, in this instance, as is obvious, auto, from the Portuguese, meaning act, and auto, from modern English, short for automobile. Clever.

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THE EVENTS OF THE AUTO-DA-FE

Auto-da-fe penitent wearing

san benito and coroza,

in a sketch by Goya.

Dear Reader,

Because the following account describes some truly of horrific events, consider it "optional reading."

—Bloggin' John

[Public execution] was rarely a simple matter of dispatching the victim. Even those who confessed immediately were tortured. Execution was not the sentence – it was an additional sentence. At the end of the trial a public ceremony was held called an Auto-da-fé (Portuguese for Act of Faith). The victim was dressed in a penitential tunic ( san benito) painted with a design. Impenitents wore tunics painted with pictures of their wearers burning in Hell with devils fanning the flames. On their heads they wore 3-foot-long pointed pasteboard caps (corozas), also painted. Around their necks they wore nooses, and in their hands they carried candles. Anyone judged likely to speak out against the Inquisition was gagged. After a procession came a Mass and sermon, in which the Inquisition was praised and heresy condemned. The sentences were read aloud and then carried out. As usual the secular authorities were obliged to burn victims on the Church’s behalf on the grounds that ecclesia non novit sanguinem – the Church does not shed blood. Burning generally took place on Sundays or festivals in order to attract the largest possible audience. Participation was a meritorious act – so for example any persons who helped collect firewood would earn a remission of their sins.

A slow roasting was considered preferable to quick incineration. Victims were tied high up on their stakes, partly to give the crowds of faithful a good view, partly to prolong the agony. Sometimes there was further torture before the fire was lit. For example Protestants who refused to recant had burning sprigs of gorse thrust into their faces until they were burned black. The whole event was a popular festival for the devout, who enjoyed the spectacle and ridiculed the victims in their death agonies. The events were closely linked to royal spectacles. The king was obliged by his coronation oath to attend these mass burnings. Such burnings were even held to help celebrate royal marriages.

www.languedoc-france.info/cathar/1209_inquisition.htm

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Enough about auto-da-fe. I've researched as much about its oppressive ideology and inhumane effects as I can tolerate. —Bloggin' John

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metonymy

Rush Limbaugh:

"the face of his party"

"also the mouth."

—Maureen Dowd

Vanity Fair image.

noun

[ me-ton'-y-my ]

Circa 1831 in popular English literature

metonymy: Substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in "they counted heads"). —WordNet 1.7.1 Princeton University

From the Greek meta, "change" and onoma, "name"

metonym, noun: a word used in metonymy.

Related forms: metonymic, metonymical, adjectives — metonymically, adverb

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METONYMY IN RECENT USE

"Hollywood metonymy for female characters is "handbags," also known as "girlfriend parts"—in other words, incidental sidekicks."

The New Yorker Oct. 26, 2009 "Man of Extremes: The Return of James Cameron Dana Goodyear 61

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COMMENT

Use of the word metonymy is common enough among teachers of rhetoric and composition, as well as, they hope, among their students. But it is not commonly used in public discourse, so I was surprised — delighted, actually — to read James Cameron use it when he reported that the "Hollywood metonym for female characters is "handbags." By substituting the metonym "handbags" for "female actors," certain Hollywood producers (aka Hollywood) reveal themselves to be cynical and patriarchal.

Although the word metonymy appears infrequently in common usage, common usage shows frequent appearances of actual metonymies, some experts claiming they occur conceptually as frequently as do metaphors.

So I thought I'd dedicate the rest of this posting to words and phrases that appear to be simple enough but which which are actually instances metonymy. To mentally process a metonymy, the reader must become engaged with the word, by drawing an inference, as with "They counted heads," where the reader infers that the reference is to people because people have heads. That brief inferential engagement with the word gives it a touch of emphasis; it gives the reader a sense of ownership because she has had to do some work to "get" it.

The reality is that we are speaking in metonymies all of the time.

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FROM WALTER NASH

Metonymy substitutes the token for the type, substitutes, that is, a particular instance, property, characteristic or association, for the general principle or function. Its terms of reference very often bridge the abstract and the concrete.

Thus

for government read the crown

for law read the bench

for command read flag

for war read the sword

for authorship read the pen

for democracy read the ballot box

for terrorism read the bullet

These are the metonymic cliches that we find in

"The powers of the crown,"

"the dignity and he authority of the bench"

"forces under the flag of General Popgun"

"the pen is mightier than the sword"

"they prefer the bullet to the ballot box"

Walter Nash. Rhetoric: The Wit of Persuasion. Cambridge USA: Blackwell, 1989, 122.

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FROM GEORGE LAKOFF AND MARK JOHNSON

Metonymy: using one entity to refer to another entity that is related to it.

Categories:

THE PART FOR THE WHOLE

The Giants need a stronger arm in right field.

Get your butt over here!

PRODUCER FOR PRODUCT

He's got a Picasso in his den.

I hate to read Heidegger.

OBJECT USED FOR USER

We need a better glove at third base.

The gun he hired wanted fifty grand.

CONTROLLER FOR CONTROLLED

Napoleon lost at Waterloo.

Nixon bombed Hanoi.

INSTITUTION FOR PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE

I don't approve of the government's actions.

Exxon has raised its prices again.

THE PLACE FOR THE INSTITUTION

Wall Street is in a panic.

The White House isn't saying anything.

THE PLACE FOR THE EVENT

It's been Grand Central Station here all day.

Remember the Alamo.

George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1980 --pages 38 and 39

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METONYMIES IN THE CURRENT ISSUE OF THE NEW YORKER, ferreted out by Bloggin' John

The other day, I went hunting for metonymies in the pages (39-44) of The New Yorker's "The Talk of the Town," Nov. 2, 2009, written by Louis Menand, David Remnick, and Lizzie Widdicombe. Here's what I found:

The Talk of the Town

(Talk: THE PART FOR THE WHOLE)

(Town: THE PLACE FOR THE INSTITUTION)

(Town = THE PLACE FOR THE EVENT)

That is the voice of the fringe, and the fringe is exactly where you want the opposition to set up permanent shop.

(voice = THE PART FOR THE WHOLE)

One line of objection to the White House's effort to ostracize Fox News is that presidential wars against the press are always futile and self-defeating.

(White House = INSTITUTION FOR THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE)

(Fox News = INSTITUTION FOR THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE)

(the press = OBJECT FOR THE USER)

A self-fashioned "scholar-bluesman," [Cornel West] travels from lecture hall to church pulpit and on to Barnes & Noble, wearing a formal and elegant uniform — black suit, white shirt, French cuffs, black tie, black scarf.

(lecture hall, church pulpit = THE PLACE FOR THE INSTITUTION)

(Barnes & Noble = INSTITUTION FOR THE PEOPLE INVOLVED)

Of the many roles that West has played in the academy and the media lately, it's been his ongoing support-slash-critique of Barack Obama that is the most curious.

(the academy, the media = INSTITUTION FOR PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE)

"Who are the major victims of that? The poor—disproportionately black and brown and red." Quoting Cornel West.

(poor, black, brown, red = THE PART FOR THE WHOLE)

"Guy Lombardo can be nice on a certain night, but you're going to need Duke Ellington and Count Basie." Quoting Cornel West.

(Guy Lombardo, Duke Ellington, Count Basie = CONTROLLER FOR CONTROLLED)

I [Rob Pruitt] love all the conventions: the red-carpet aspect, and the speeches, and the cameras catching the expressions of the people that didn't win."

(red-carpet, cameras = THE PART FOR THE WHOLE)

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