friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

My Horrible Reading Skills !
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Sometimes some books make me question my reading and comprehension skills (of English) and make me question the time I have spent over the years learning them 😐

I have been reading Ernest Bramah's "What Might Have Been" (In the US, the book is called "The Secret of the League") and I have only been able to grasp the barebone structure of the plot and think that all the intricacies have been lost upon me, it is not the first time I am reading something penned by Bramah (I have read his detective stories of Max Carrados) but the writing style here is very difficult for me to understand with archaic words used sparingly. 😞

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friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Unus Nemo

@Harib Murshidi

Ernest Bramah is a fantastic writer, but What Might Have Been is full of references and jokes specific to British society over a hundred years ago. Please do not feel that struggling with it means your English isn't good enough—most native English speakers today would be just as lost reading it! The difficulty isn't your vocabulary or reading skill; it is simply missing historical context. Once you learn a little about Bramah and the era he was satirizing, the book becomes much clearer.

Unus Nemo

@Harib Murshidi
in reply to Unus Nemo

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Harib Murshidi

@Unus Nemo

I have read about that era but I am open to suggestion to more books that shed more light on that time period and frankly, it does not help that the socialists are presented as such dim-witted buffoons sometimes and many ideas (like paid leaves etc.) are pretty much common place was being mocked by Bramah's rich snobs

@Unus Nemo

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friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Unus Nemo

@Harib Murshidi

Please keep in mind this is satire. They are not so dim witted when taken in context (of satire) ;-). And paid leaves were not so common in that era (a 100 years ago) and it was a controversial topic. And, yes Braham liked to make fun of the rich.


Essay on Words

Unus Nemo


Unus Nemo

2026-10-26 01:25:17

friendica - Link to source

Words The Most Confusing of All Things...

It might seem on the surface that words, spoken or written, are quite fundamental, easy to understand. Is this really the case though? In all reality words are most misleading. Perhaps I should explain.


Almost every word in any given language has multiple and sometimes contradicting meanings, it is worth considering how sarcasm can reverse the meaning of a word in contemplating this. Also, every word has three distinct meanings in its simplest interpretation. The denotation of the word, which is its dictionary given meaning, which in itself is sometimes not exclusive. Ever taken a look at a dictionary some words have more than one given meaning. Then there is the connotation of a word, which is the meaning the speaker or writer is actually applying to the word. With all things considered, being that language is an attempt to communicate, this would or should be the most important interpretation of the word. The third and less obvious interpretation however is the most significant interpretation and is the listener, or reader's connotation of these words. I can not count the times I have been present to overhear a conversation between two people that I knew well, yet they had just met, and they were having a conversation and either totally agreed with each other or disagreed, and in reality were talking about two entirely different subjects to begin with, neither having a clue of this fact.


So at this point you might ask yourself. Just how do we unravel the mysterious meanings of these words? What are people really saying to me? Words in and by themselves having no real meaning that we can cling to, is there any hope of understanding someone else at all, or of them understanding us?


Consider this. When my daughter was an infant and clung to my finger smiling up at me. I needed no words to understand her at all. When she was five years old, and I stood beside her at the school bus stop, with her clinging to my hand as tight as she could with anxiety on her face and her small frame as tense as it could get. I needed no words to understand her at this moment either. Communication transcends mere words. I knew and still know my daughter's feelings, hopes and perception of life. It is what gives meaning to every word she speaks, or writes. It would be safe to say at this juncture that truly understanding the person is the key to understanding there words, whether of tongue or pen.


With that said, how often do we really even make an effort to understand the people we meet, or are we more satisfied to just accept our perception of them and judge there words by that standard? If I spoke to you, would you listen to me, or would you just hear me?

Unus Nemo


Tips & Donations

#Essay #Philosophy

@Melissa BearTrix @Nelson


@Harib Murshidi
This entry was edited (today, 1:03 PM)
in reply to Harib Murshidi

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Harib Murshidi

Well, most of the rich and the bourgeois were actually far more smart compared to the working class mass of dunder-headed nitwits. Secondly, I wish I would be able to understand the #scifi elements like I cannot come up with a picture in my head of the flying machines described in the book as well as the fax/telegraph apparatus he has talked about ! I am still scouring the internet to see if somebody has tried to draw some #fanart about this.

I can somehow understand the satirical takes of other authors like Dorothy L. Sayers (with Lord Peter Wimsey) and Agatha Christie far more easily but I think I am probably missing the point that the book was supposedly written to thoroughly lampoon the working class while being more sympathetic with the middle class (George Salt)

#scifi #fanart

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