Word: menckenism
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Given the new realities, those statistics could change without notice. The People's Republic may soon be complaining of U.S. neologisms, coinages, and other abuses. Like Americans, the Chinese can take comfort in H.L. Mencken's editorial, as valid today as it was 40 years ago: "As English spreads over the world, will it be able to maintain its present form? Probably not. But why should it? ... Stability in language is synonymous with rigormortis." In 1978, American prose continued to alter, irritate and entertain. To the purist, those characteristics may be evidence of deterioration. Certainly our language...
What we miss for this part of the great plebiscite is the services of H.L. Mencken to write about the Carnival of Buncombe, to lay about him in good humor over the "rogues and vagabonds, frauds and scoundrels" who pump "stale bilge" around this "lugubrious ball." But even a man of such laser eye as Mencken confessed that after damning politicians uphill and downdale for years, a certain faith in the process kept re-emerging and he looked to politicians "to be able, diligent, candid, and even honest." That is a tall order, but one suspects that we will...
...plot of Superman smacks of what we have all sopped up since age seven from DC Comics. All the familiar characters are there, along with a few new faces--Max Mencken (remember H.L.) the sleazy reporter for the Daily Planet; Dr. Abner Sedgwick, a frustrated mad scientist from the Metropolis Institute of Technology (MIT); and the Flying Lings, a threesome of oriental acrobats...
...MENCKEN--excellently portrayed by Brian McCue '81--chortles with delight over Superman's fall from glory. Tweaking his moustache and swaggering with nebbish aplomb, McCue belts out his song, "So Long, Big Guy." McCue's expressive face, quizzical eyebrows, and fussy gestures clinch his characterization of the oily little reporter. He's such a wise guy, you feel like giving him a slap in the face...
...With Mencken's aid, the evil doctor Sedgwick kidnaps Superman. Sedgwick plans to turn Superman into his lackey, then use him in a scheme to take over the world with "the most sophisticated brain in the western world," his computer Brainiac...