To: hal jordan who wrote (28157 ) 1/14/1999 11:35:00 PM From: nihil Respond to
Normally, I try not to insult people. If nothing else, I am a gentleman, who in my neck of the woods is defined as someone who never insults anyone unintentionally. The reason is simply. An insult by its nature must be answered on the field of honor. An unintended slight could cost an innocent life. Bred up as I was in the gentlemen's code of honor, skilled almost beyond reason in the use of deadly weapons (my pen has had to be registered as such in three states)and particularly weapons of honour, I have had to be particularly careful in my use of language that might be interpreted as insulting. I feel a particular embarrassment when I have had to terminate a young and rash man because he was too ignorant accurately to parse my challenges. I have annoyed people endlessly by trying to make peace among the quarreling clans of villains. I am afflicted by a dedication to accuracy in word usage that has been the bain of my existence. How seldom can one count on a critic truly to understand semantics? I try to restrict all of my words to the principal meaning of the word in the country in which I happen to be writing. When authorities differ, as so often they will in our philologically anarchic world, I try to find a compromise.comicbookresources.com . comicbookresources.com . comicbookresources.com . comicbookresources.com .
