Laudator Temporis Acti

Joseph Epstein, "My Friend Edward," in Narcissus Leaves the Pool: Familiar Essays (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999), pp. 287-321 (at 290):

A small number of people called him Ed, but it was generally a mistake to do so. He himself did not go to first names easily, and to diminutives never. I was always Joseph to him, he Edward to me. I am not sure how I was able to break through to address him by his first name, or why he early chose to call me by mine, though I am glad that this happened. He had students, acquaintances, really quite dear friends of several decades whom he continued to call Mr. or Mrs. or Miss; they usually called him Professor Shils. It was part of his formality; and Edward's formality was a reminder that the word formality has its root in the word formidable.

Not from an etymological point of view. Formality (from Latin fōrma) and formidable (from Latin formido), so far as I know, are unrelated, as Professor Shils probably could have told Mr. Epstein: "He was endlessly curious about the etymology of phrases and idioms." (p. 306.)

This is a barely discernible blemish on a charming essay. Would that I could write half so fluently and wittily as Epstein, who probably would put me in the same class as the following pedant, described in his essay "Ticked to the Min" (pp. 137-154, at 150):

I have a reader who, in a monotone voice, occasionally telephones to report that he has found another typographical error in one of my books. I believe he thinks he is doing me a good turn—maybe he is naïve enough to think that publishers, in new editions, take care to correct such errors....With a downcast heart, I thank this fellow for pointing out these typos. But before I hang up the phone, I find myself wanting to say, "Write if you find work."

As for me, I'm grateful whenever someone points out a typographical or factual error. Without a pleasing style, one should at least aspire to accuracy.

Related post: Fact Checking and Proofreading.

Labels: typographical and other errors