Word: idiom
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...while serving as his country's ambassador (1952-53). He picked up U.S. slang, went often to watch the Washington Senators, took to bowling with his embassy staff. He drove around most of the 48 states with his pretty wife and two teen-age sons, collecting American gadgets, idiom and ideas...
Berg: Violin Concerto (Louis Krasner; Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Artur Rodzinsky; Columbia). One of the meatiest, most listenable concertos of the century, played by the man who introduced it in 1936. Written in the twelve-tone technique, it combines all the nervous subtleties of that idiom with the undeniable decadence of Berg's own style, but still appeals strongly to the ear. More complex (and less appealing) is the piece on the reverse side: another great modern...
More a novel by courtesy than by craft, Gulf Stream North makes what its characters do seem a good deal more real than what they are, makes the special idiom they talk most real of all. Author Conrad regards Gulf Stream North as the completion of an "idiom trilogy" that began with Scottsboro Boy and continued with Rock Bottom. When the men of the Moona Waa Togue "crap up the captain" (praise him), sing their work chanteys ("Who emptied out the bottles from hea-a-ven-n-n, and let the rain fall down-w-w-n-n?"), or joke...
Flaubert's style, however, seems to deny effective translation. Writing in the idiom of the French middle class, using accepted cliches, and punning occasionally, he writes French that is very difficult to render into another language. Especially in the case of Bouvard and Pecuchet, many translations have lacked the spirit, even the satiric subtlety of the original. But this most recent attempt, published by New Directions and jointly translated by T. W. Earp and G. W. Stonier, accurately reveals the artistry of Flaubert to an English-reading audience...
Along the way, Author Michener dishes up a short-order Cook's tour of Japanese art, food, culture, idiom. His habit of breaking into pidgin English brings even his love scenes ("Oh, Rroyd, I rub you berry sweet") close to low comedy. For the rest, Michener is so busy swatting interracial injustice that he beats the life out of his story long before it is time to say sayonara, Japanese for goodbye...