Tradiling

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Today’s post is the first of an occasional series that Tradiling readers can contribute to: Favourite selections.

The idea of favourite selections is not original. Books of quotations, anthologies of music, tourist guides, they are all based on the same idea. But the notion of a paragraph-length text selection is not so frequent. Let’s see how it goes.

If you wish to contribute, please just bear in mind that the selection should not be too long and write to me at rsamson@uvic.cat with your proposal.

If you put “favourite selections” into a search engine, the results include a lot of music, some book clubs, food, Reader’s Digest, Bible verses, and much more.

For my “favourite selection” below I have disclosed neither the author nor the source, though you can find both easily enough by searching the web.

For those of you ready to indulge me, the challenge is to read the following paragraph and see if you notice anything unusual about it, without searching for online help.

Leave your suggestions in the comments, please. The usual much sought-after distinctions will be festooned on those who suggest noteworthy answers.

With all its manifold new words from other tongues, English could never have become anything but English. And as such it has sent out to the world, among many other things, some of the best books the world has ever known. It is not unlikely, in the light of writings by English speakers in earlier times, that this would have been so even if we had never taken any words from outside the word hoard that has come down to us from those times. It is true that what we have borrowed has brought greater wealth to our word stock, but the true Englishness of our mother tongue has in no way been lessened by such loans, as those who speak and write it lovingly will always keep in mind.

Just a little summer fun!

Tradiling will be back with more topical content (including your own favourite selection?) in September. For those of you on holiday, have a great one.