Language (was : TBAY - my take)

[pippin_999]

Del said:
>according to the seminar metaphor, it's very rude to hold  
private discussions in a foreign language in the conference 
room. If  you want to have private talks with a restricted number of 
people, go  to a private room. As David pointed out, it's all a 
matter of which  metaphor you consider.<

I'm only a "middler" (and see how quickly jargon sprouts) and I 
could be wrong, but as far as I know there's never been a time 
when the list was like a seminar, solely devoted to  academic 
discussion. I don't find academic discussions unwelcome at all, 
OTOH I would not be offended if  those who wish to be thus 
limited want to consider sequestering themselves. 
  
Del:
> And what if I want to know what new exciting theory those crazy 
and  brilliant people have come up with ? Or, and that happens 
*very*  often, what if I come accross a "straight" comment or 
response to a TBAY post which triggers my interest and curiosity, 
and I want to  know the whole of the original theory, and I get 
there and just don't  understand most of it ? I have to do A LOT of 
guessing when it comes  to understanding some TBAY posts...<

<snip>. Basically, I'm being told that I have to learn  yet another 
"language" to understand and take part in some of the  most 
interesting discussions on the list. And it's a language I have 
 very little hope to ever master : my mind just doesn't work that 
way.<

But TBay is the way  mind works, sometimes, and I'm not sure I 
could get the ideas in the first place if I didn't Tbay them.  To me, 
symbol, allusion and metaphor are as much a part of the books 
as Quidditch. 

Consider the end of CoS.  Diary!Tom, a man of letters, literally 
literal-minded and prosaic, can not be defeated by the sword of 
Gryffindor.  The pen is mightier. But he underestimates the 
power of symbols, and so  he is destroyed by a songbird (faith), 
a sleeping virgin(hope) and old clothes (charity).

Your mileage may vary. But if you don't understand something in 
a TBay post, just ask. IMO, most of us would be delighted to 
explain ourselves.

Pippin