Is this a shout-out? _Veiled_ (Verus #6)

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

I'm currently reading _Veiled_ (Alex Verus Book 6) and ran
across this passage:

Once Luna was gone I opened up and spent the rest of the
day running the shop. My shop's called the Arcana Emporium,
and it's in the back streets of Camden. As far as I know
it's the only magic shop in Britain that sells actual magic
(there are rumours of one in Ireland, but I've never gotten
around to checking them out). The weather outside was cold,
but I didn't have any shortage of customers.

I know book 1 had a shout-out to Harry Dresden -- this bit about Ireland
sounds like another shout-out, but if so I'm not sure to what.

Is it? If so, to whom?
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <d3t7m2...@mid.individual.net>,

Never having read any Harry Dresden, I can't say. What struck me
was a supposed Brit using "gotten." Has our archaic past
participle crept back across the Atlantic, then?

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

[Robert Carnegie]

On Sunday, 23 August 2015 13:30:05 UTC+1, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <d3t7m2...@mid.individual.net>,
> Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
> >I'm currently reading _Veiled_ (Alex Verus Book 6) and ran
> >across this passage:
> >
> > Once Luna was gone I opened up and spent the rest of the
> > day running the shop. My shop's called the Arcana Emporium,
> > and it's in the back streets of Camden. As far as I know
> > it's the only magic shop in Britain that sells actual magic
> > (there are rumours of one in Ireland, but I've never gotten
> > around to checking them out). The weather outside was cold,
> > but I didn't have any shortage of customers.
> >
> >I know book 1 had a shout-out to Harry Dresden -- this bit about Ireland
> >sounds like another shout-out, but if so I'm not sure to what.
> >
> >Is it? If so, to whom?
>
> Never having read any Harry Dresden, I can't say. What struck me
> was a supposed Brit using "gotten." Has our archaic past
> participle crept back across the Atlantic, then?

"Emporium" is quite archaic.

Do we take it that books one to five are recommended?

I can't help about a magic shop in Ireland, unless it refers
to <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Books> which is set
in London but with considerable Irish input. Or, could there
be something in James Joyce?

Or perhaps a shop that sells equipment to stage magicians.

I see that in this book there's a Light Council.
Harry Dresden has contended with White, Black, and
Grey Councils, as far as I recall... do these
professional Councils ever go for colours?
And specifically other than primary colours?
Even individually it's rare... A radio parody
_Hordes of the Things_ featured Radox the Green
and Badedas the Blue as prominent wizards;
their names were of stuff that you put in a bath
to make it... more sticky, I suppose.

[Jerry Brown]

On Sun, 23 Aug 2015 12:21:47 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
Heydt) wrote:

>In article <d3t7m2...@mid.individual.net>,
>Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
>>I'm currently reading _Veiled_ (Alex Verus Book 6) and ran
>>across this passage:
>>
>> Once Luna was gone I opened up and spent the rest of the
>> day running the shop. My shop's called the Arcana Emporium,
>> and it's in the back streets of Camden. As far as I know
>> it's the only magic shop in Britain that sells actual magic
>> (there are rumours of one in Ireland, but I've never gotten
>> around to checking them out). The weather outside was cold,
>> but I didn't have any shortage of customers.
>>
>>I know book 1 had a shout-out to Harry Dresden -- this bit about Ireland
>>sounds like another shout-out, but if so I'm not sure to what.
>>
>>Is it? If so, to whom?
>
>Never having read any Harry Dresden, I can't say. What struck me
>was a supposed Brit using "gotten." Has our archaic past
>participle crept back across the Atlantic, then?

This has puzzled me as well. All I can think is that it's something
that is still used in parts of the UK and Jacka picked up on that.

Or, in story, Alex Verus did spend some time in the USA during his
time under Drakh.

--
Jerry Brown

A cat may look at a king
(but probably won't bother)

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <6b370fa0-8ce8-4525...@googlegroups.com>,

Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote:
>On Sunday, 23 August 2015 13:30:05 UTC+1, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <d3t7m2...@mid.individual.net>,
>> Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
>> >I'm currently reading _Veiled_ (Alex Verus Book 6) and ran
>> >across this passage:
>> >
>> > Once Luna was gone I opened up and spent the rest of the
>> > day running the shop. My shop's called the Arcana Emporium,
>> > and it's in the back streets of Camden. As far as I know
>> > it's the only magic shop in Britain that sells actual magic
>> > (there are rumours of one in Ireland, but I've never gotten
>> > around to checking them out). The weather outside was cold,
>> > but I didn't have any shortage of customers.
>> >
>> >I know book 1 had a shout-out to Harry Dresden -- this bit about Ireland
>> >sounds like another shout-out, but if so I'm not sure to what.
>> >
>> >Is it? If so, to whom?
>>
>> Never having read any Harry Dresden, I can't say. What struck me
>> was a supposed Brit using "gotten." Has our archaic past
>> participle crept back across the Atlantic, then?
>
>"Emporium" is quite archaic.
>
>Do we take it that books one to five are recommended?
>

Very much so. Verus is an appealing character gradually gathering
a posse friends and moving from the detested fringes of magical society to
the possibly rotten center. It's also entertaining to watch him use
his talent for Divination (being able to watch the branching futures from
any action) let him punch way about his actual "power level" -- though
it doesn't keep him from getting the snot punched out of himself more
often than not.

>I can't help about a magic shop in Ireland, unless it refers
>to <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Books> which is set
>in London but with considerable Irish input. Or, could there
>be something in James Joyce?
>
>Or perhaps a shop that sells equipment to stage magicians.

He apparently has a place he shunts customers looking for stage magic
to, and it's not in Ireland.

>
>I see that in this book there's a Light Council.
>Harry Dresden has contended with White, Black, and
>Grey Councils, as far as I recall... do these
>professional Councils ever go for colours?
>And specifically other than primary colours?
>Even individually it's rare... A radio parody
>_Hordes of the Things_ featured Radox the Green
>and Badedas the Blue as prominent wizards;
>their names were of stuff that you put in a bath
>to make it... more sticky, I suppose.

The Light Council is currently made up only of "Light" mages.
That's not to say they are good guys so much as to say they
are willing to accept some structure to society and sponser (and
submit to judgement of) various rule enforcing bodies. The Dark
mages may not be evil (though most of them basically are), but they
have a solopistic view of society and make their own rules to the
extent they have the power to assert their will. Verus has just
made a deal with one DM and we've yet to see how that works out,
but his life history gives him a lot of reasons to doubt it..

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <crpjtahs2hdp1oh5a...@jwbrown.co.uk>,

It may be editing, the way the first Harry Potter books were Americanized.
OTOH, I did notice "colour" in the current volume.

[David DeLaney]

On 2015-08-23, Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote:
>> Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
>> >I'm currently reading _Veiled_ (Alex Verus Book 6) and ran
>> >across this passage:

> Do we take it that books one to five are recommended?

Very much so plz ty okbye! (They're by Benedict Jacka, and Veiled is sitting in
the recently-read pile just behind the one at my elbow, as I type.)

> I see that in this book there's a Light Council.
> Harry Dresden has contended with White, Black, and
> Grey Councils, as far as I recall... do these
> professional Councils ever go for colours?
> And specifically other than primary colours?

I think they tend to leave that to the vampires, and/or the magic itself.
(The coloured magicians in Phaze were the exact opposite of councils...)

Dave, also see Jack Vance
--
\/David DeLaney posting thru EarthLink - "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://gatekeeper.vic.com/~dbd/ -net.legends/Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

[David DeLaney]

On 2015-08-23, Ted Nolan <tednolan> <t...@loft.tnolan.com> wrote:
> Very much so. Verus is an appealing character gradually gathering
> a posse friends and moving from the detested fringes of magical society to
> the possibly rotten center. It's also entertaining to watch him use
> his talent for Divination (being able to watch the branching futures from
> any action) let him punch way about his actual "power level" -- though

[sic "way above"]

> it doesn't keep him from getting the snot punched out of himself more
> often than not.

Well, that's the thing: Divination, _done_ correctly or at least the way it
is here, IS on a par with all the other subdivisions that can evoke fire from
nothing, raise the dead, conjure up appalling monsters, and otherwise wreak
havoc and destruction on the environment. Yes, it can't take chunks out of your
opponent on its own, or melt him or rearrange him or control his mind ... but
what it CAN do, no other specialization can, and Alex does it VERY well. (It's
hard to win a fight where your opponent can BOTH see what you're _going_ to be
doing _and avoid it_, AND see what needs to be done to get a victory for
himself, or at least a draw/survival...)

Dave

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

On Sun, 23 Aug 2015 16:36:44 +0100, Jerry Brown
<je...@jwbrown.co.uk.invalid> wrote:

>On Sun, 23 Aug 2015 12:21:47 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
>Heydt) wrote:
>
>>Never having read any Harry Dresden, I can't say. What struck me
>>was a supposed Brit using "gotten." Has our archaic past
>>participle crept back across the Atlantic, then?
>
>This has puzzled me as well. All I can think is that it's something
>that is still used in parts of the UK and Jacka picked up on that.

It is indeed used in parts, my bit of Yorkshire plus some yoof in London
as two examples.

>Or, in story, Alex Verus did spend some time in the USA during his
>time under Drakh.

Where's Alex from? Verus isn't a name I know of any provenance for. I've
not read the books.

Cheers - Jaimie
--
If you haven't got time to RTFM, you haven't got time to whine about it.
This signature was made by SigChanger.
You can find SigChanger at: http://www.phranc.nl/

[Jerry Brown]

On Sun, 23 Aug 2015 20:54:14 +0100, Jaimie Vandenbergh
<jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:

>On Sun, 23 Aug 2015 16:36:44 +0100, Jerry Brown
><je...@jwbrown.co.uk.invalid> wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 23 Aug 2015 12:21:47 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
>>Heydt) wrote:
>>
>>>Never having read any Harry Dresden, I can't say. What struck me
>>>was a supposed Brit using "gotten." Has our archaic past
>>>participle crept back across the Atlantic, then?
>>
>>This has puzzled me as well. All I can think is that it's something
>>that is still used in parts of the UK and Jacka picked up on that.
>
>It is indeed used in parts, my bit of Yorkshire plus some yoof in London
>as two examples.
>
>>Or, in story, Alex Verus did spend some time in the USA during his
>>time under Drakh.
>
>Where's Alex from? Verus isn't a name I know of any provenance for. I've
>not read the books.

Verus is his mage name. IIRC Alex hasn't mentioned his original
surname. In Veiled we meet a mage with a normal name and Alex is
puzzled as to why she still uses it, but decides it's better not to
ask.

[Robert Bannister]

On 23/08/2015 8:21 pm, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:

> Never having read any Harry Dresden, I can't say. What struck me
> was a supposed Brit using "gotten." Has our archaic past
> participle crept back across the Atlantic, then?
>

There are currently quite a lot of American writers, not just sf
writers, setting their novels in Britain. Some of them do a passable job
of using British English, even period BrE in historical novels. Most do not.
--
Robert Bannister
Perth, Western Australia

[Brian M. Scott]

On Mon, 24 Aug 2015 08:06:46 +0800, Robert Bannister
<rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote
in<news:d3v5gp...@mid.individual.net> in
rec.arts.sf.written:

Benedict Jacka, however, was born in England and attended
the City of London School and Cambridge.

Brian
--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <12hy96ik4xyhx$.19c97bsngdmdt$.d...@40tude.net>,

Brian M. Scott <b.s...@csuohio.edu> wrote:
>On Mon, 24 Aug 2015 08:06:46 +0800, Robert Bannister
><rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote
>in<news:d3v5gp...@mid.individual.net> in
>rec.arts.sf.written:
>
>> On 23/08/2015 8:21 pm, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>
>>> Never having read any Harry Dresden, I can't say. What struck me
>>> was a supposed Brit using "gotten." Has our archaic past
>>> participle crept back across the Atlantic, then?
>
>> There are currently quite a lot of American writers, not
>> just sf writers, setting their novels in Britain. Some
>> of them do a passable job of using British English, even
>> period BrE in historical novels. Most do not.
>
>Benedict Jacka, however, was born in England and attended
>the City of London School and Cambridge.

So Yankish is sneakily creeping its way across (or possibly
under) the Atlantic. Figures.

[Mike M]

Dorothy J Heydt <djh...@kithrup.com> wrote:
> In article <12hy96ik4xyhx$.19c97bsngdmdt$.d...@40tude.net>,
> Brian M. Scott <b.s...@csuohio.edu> wrote:
>> On Mon, 24 Aug 2015 08:06:46 +0800, Robert Bannister
>> <rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote
>> in<news:d3v5gp...@mid.individual.net> in
>> rec.arts.sf.written:
>>
>>> On 23/08/2015 8:21 pm, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>
>>>> Never having read any Harry Dresden, I can't say. What struck me
>>>> was a supposed Brit using "gotten." Has our archaic past
>>>> participle crept back across the Atlantic, then?
>>
>>> There are currently quite a lot of American writers, not
>>> just sf writers, setting their novels in Britain. Some
>>> of them do a passable job of using British English, even
>>> period BrE in historical novels. Most do not.
>>
>> Benedict Jacka, however, was born in England and attended
>> the City of London School and Cambridge.
>
> So Yankish is sneakily creeping its way across (or possibly
> under) the Atlantic. Figures.

"Gotten" never went away, though it was frowned upon by the grammar police
for a while. Its widespread American use may have helped its
rehabilitation.

"Y'all", on the other hand, is entering British parlance now and definitely
a mark of the Americanisation of English English, together with the loss of
"n't" from "I couldn't care less".

The first one is very understandable given that plural "you" lost its
clarity centuries ago. I'm still not convinced of the value of the latter
since "I could care less" is an illogical construction, given its usage.

--
So much universe, and so little time. - Sir Terry Pratchett

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

On Sun, 23 Aug 2015 22:32:51 +0100, Jerry Brown

<je...@jwbrown.co.uk.invalid> wrote:

>On Sun, 23 Aug 2015 20:54:14 +0100, Jaimie Vandenbergh
><jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 23 Aug 2015 16:36:44 +0100, Jerry Brown
>><je...@jwbrown.co.uk.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>>On Sun, 23 Aug 2015 12:21:47 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
>>>Heydt) wrote:
>>>
>>>>Never having read any Harry Dresden, I can't say. What struck me
>>>>was a supposed Brit using "gotten." Has our archaic past
>>>>participle crept back across the Atlantic, then?
>>>
>>>This has puzzled me as well. All I can think is that it's something
>>>that is still used in parts of the UK and Jacka picked up on that.
>>
>>It is indeed used in parts, my bit of Yorkshire plus some yoof in London
>>as two examples.
>>
>>>Or, in story, Alex Verus did spend some time in the USA during his
>>>time under Drakh.
>>
>>Where's Alex from? Verus isn't a name I know of any provenance for. I've
>>not read the books.
>
>Verus is his mage name. IIRC Alex hasn't mentioned his original
>surname. In Veiled we meet a mage with a normal name and Alex is
>puzzled as to why she still uses it, but decides it's better not to
>ask.

Perfectly reasonable.

Cheers - Jaimie
--
I was most impressed when I looked up into the London sky and saw
a star through all the light pollution. A few of us checked some
astronomy references to try and identify it, and we're reasonably
confident that it was Sol. -- Peter Corlett, asr

[Anthony Nance]

Ted Nolan <tednolan> <t...@loft.tnolan.com> wrote:

It might, just maybe, be an oblique reference to Kevin Hearne's
Iron Druid series.

I've really enjoyed the Alex Verus series, and I'm looking
forward to reading #6.
- Tony

[William December Starr]

In article <d3v5gp...@mid.individual.net>,

Robert Bannister <rob...@clubtelco.com> said:

> There are currently quite a lot of American writers, not just sf
> writers, setting their novels in Britain. Some of them do a
> passable job of using British English, even period BrE in
> historical novels. Most do not.

I was expecting that sentence to be something like "...a passable
job of ever having set foot on Britsh soil or at least of having
once met someone who did; some do not."

-- wds

[William December Starr]

In article <ntKnF...@kithrup.com>,

djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) said:

> So Yankish is sneakily creeping its way across (or possibly
> under) the Atlantic. Figures.

Is there really anything sneaky about it?

-- wds

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <mrf1bn$51d$1...@dont-email.me>,

Finished it, and enjoyed.















SPOILERS











More of a "Well, we survived" ending than "Boo yah!", but surviving is
not to be sniffed at..

[Robert Bannister]

On 24/08/2015 1:07 pm, Brian M. Scott wrote:
> On Mon, 24 Aug 2015 08:06:46 +0800, Robert Bannister
> <rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote
> in<news:d3v5gp...@mid.individual.net> in
> rec.arts.sf.written:
>
>> On 23/08/2015 8:21 pm, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>
>>> Never having read any Harry Dresden, I can't say. What struck me
>>> was a supposed Brit using "gotten." Has our archaic past
>>> participle crept back across the Atlantic, then?
>
>> There are currently quite a lot of American writers, not
>> just sf writers, setting their novels in Britain. Some
>> of them do a passable job of using British English, even
>> period BrE in historical novels. Most do not.
>
> Benedict Jacka, however, was born in England and attended
> the City of London School and Cambridge.

So that makes the usage very odd. Is she under 25?

[Robert Bannister]

There really are some who manage the language change so well, that you'd
never realise they weren't English themselves until you read the notes
about the author at the back of the book. Others imitate Wodehouse or
Dickens badly.

[Brian M. Scott]

On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 11:11:54 +0800, Robert Bannister
<rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote
in<news:d424ns...@mid.individual.net> in
rec.arts.sf.written:

He. He’ll be 35 in about a month.

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

She?!

I have never met or heard of a female Benedict. (As a first name; I
knew a family with the surname Benedict, but that's different.)





--
My webpage is at http://www.watt-evans.com

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

[Kevrob]

On Monday, August 24, 2015 at 11:41:21 PM UTC-4, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 11:11:54 +0800, Robert Bannister
> <rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote:
>
> >On 24/08/2015 1:07 pm, Brian M. Scott wrote:
> >> On Mon, 24 Aug 2015 08:06:46 +0800, Robert Bannister
> >> <rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote
> >> in<news:d3v5gp...@mid.individual.net> in
> >> rec.arts.sf.written:
> >>
> >>> On 23/08/2015 8:21 pm, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> >>
> >>>> Never having read any Harry Dresden, I can't say. What struck me
> >>>> was a supposed Brit using "gotten." Has our archaic past
> >>>> participle crept back across the Atlantic, then?
> >>
> >>> There are currently quite a lot of American writers, not
> >>> just sf writers, setting their novels in Britain. Some
> >>> of them do a passable job of using British English, even
> >>> period BrE in historical novels. Most do not.
> >>
> >> Benedict Jacka, however, was born in England and attended
> >> the City of London School and Cambridge.
> >
> >So that makes the usage very odd. Is she under 25?
>
> She?!
>
> I have never met or heard of a female Benedict. (As a first name; I
> knew a family with the surname Benedict, but that's different.)
>

Apparently, Benedicta is available as a female forename.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedicta

Kevin R

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 04:14:53 -0700 (PDT), Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com>
wrote:

Yes, I know. That's not Benedict.

[Kevrob]

I don't think I've ever encountered a female named either
Benedict or Benedicta, not even any of the nuns who taught me.
I had a Sr Thomas Aquinas for Latin, so a totally male name
would not have been strange for sisters who had joined up
as late as the early 1960s.

Kevin R

[William December Starr]

In article <0tonta1mv1u1qgvvc...@reader80.eternal-september.org>,
Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> said:

> Robert Bannister <rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote:

>> Brian M. Scott wrote:
>>
>>> Benedict Jacka, however, was born in England and attended
>>> the City of London School and Cambridge.
>>
>> So that makes the usage very odd. Is she under 25?
>
> She?!
>
> I have never met or heard of a female Benedict. (As a first name;
> I knew a family with the surname Benedict, but that's different.)

I have to admit, practically every time I'm reminded of the name of
this author the feminine-form "Jacka" gets a lot more of my brain's
fast-heuristic attention than does the male-form "Benedict".

-- wds

[Robert Bannister]

On 25/08/2015 11:16 am, Brian M. Scott wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 11:11:54 +0800, Robert Bannister
> <rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote
> in<news:d424ns...@mid.individual.net> in
> rec.arts.sf.written:
>
>> On 24/08/2015 1:07 pm, Brian M. Scott wrote:
>
>>> On Mon, 24 Aug 2015 08:06:46 +0800, Robert Bannister
>>> <rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote
>>> in<news:d3v5gp...@mid.individual.net> in
>>> rec.arts.sf.written:
>
>>>> On 23/08/2015 8:21 pm, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>
>>>>> Never having read any Harry Dresden, I can't say. What struck me
>>>>> was a supposed Brit using "gotten." Has our archaic past
>>>>> participle crept back across the Atlantic, then?
>
>>>> There are currently quite a lot of American writers, not
>>>> just sf writers, setting their novels in Britain. Some
>>>> of them do a passable job of using British English, even
>>>> period BrE in historical novels. Most do not.
>
>>> Benedict Jacka, however, was born in England and attended
>>> the City of London School and Cambridge.
>
>> So that makes the usage very odd. Is she under 25?
>
> He.

Sorry. I was taking "Benedict" as the surname and "Jacka" as an unusual,
but vaguely feminine-sounding given name.

He’ll be 35 in about a month.
>
> Brian
>

I'll have to assume he watches too much TV then.

[Robert Carnegie]

On Wednesday, 26 August 2015 01:01:52 UTC+1, William December Starr wrote:
> In article <0tonta1mv1u1qgvvc...@reader80.eternal-september.org>,
> Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> said:
>
> > Robert Bannister <rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote:
> >> Brian M. Scott wrote:
> >>
> >>> Benedict Jacka, however, was born in England and attended
> >>> the City of London School and Cambridge.
> >>
> >> So that makes the usage very odd. Is she under 25?
> >
> > She?!
> >
> > I have never met or heard of a female Benedict. (As a first name;
> > I knew a family with the surname Benedict, but that's different.)

It may have become more popular since it was the name
of a Pope in 2005. (You choose a Pope name when you
get the job, or, probably, you have been thinking about
it for a while beforehand.)

> I have to admit, practically every time I'm reminded of the name of
> this author the feminine-form "Jacka" gets a lot more of my brain's
> fast-heuristic attention than does the male-form "Benedict".

Wouldn't that be "Jacqueline"? Or "Jackie?"

<http://www.ancestry.co.uk/name-origin?surname=jacka>
presents a map with the county of Cornwall strongly
highlighted, which I'm willing to accept, but also
mentions some harder-consonanted locations in Europe.

I think the English science fiction actor Jon Pertwee
claimed in a one-man show to be descended from "a line
that my mother should never have listened to" (ahem!),
one of whom came from France some generations ago
and founded an English clan - so to speak - of
considerable number, including his quite famous
father.

So it happens - although he or I may be confusing this
with his role as "Chief Petty Officer Pertwee" in
_The Navy Lark_ on radio, a Sergeant Bilko figure
with a large number of equally criminally inclined
relatives mostly taking advantage of the British Navy
and of each other.

[Kevrob]

On Wednesday, August 26, 2015 at 12:10:14 AM UTC-4, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> On Wednesday, 26 August 2015 01:01:52 UTC+1, William December Starr wrote:
> > In article <0tonta1mv1u1qgvvc...@reader80.eternal-september.org>,
> > Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> said:
> >
> > > Robert Bannister <rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote:
> > >> Brian M. Scott wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> Benedict Jacka, however, was born in England and attended
> > >>> the City of London School and Cambridge.
> > >>
> > >> So that makes the usage very odd. Is she under 25?
> > >
> > > She?!
> > >
> > > I have never met or heard of a female Benedict. (As a first name;
> > > I knew a family with the surname Benedict, but that's different.)
>
> It may have become more popular since it was the name
> of a Pope in 2005. (You choose a Pope name when you
> get the job, or, probably, you have been thinking about
> it for a while beforehand.)
>
> > I have to admit, practically every time I'm reminded of the name of
> > this author the feminine-form "Jacka" gets a lot more of my brain's
> > fast-heuristic attention than does the male-form "Benedict".
>
> Wouldn't that be "Jacqueline"? Or "Jackie?"
>

"Jacka" sounds like what the British tabloid headline writes
would have used to refer to Michael J, had he completed his
transition to full Diana Ross mode. :)

Kevin R

[Quadibloc]

On Tuesday, August 25, 2015 at 10:10:14 PM UTC-6, Robert Carnegie wrote:

> I think the English science fiction actor Jon Pertwee
> claimed in a one-man show to be descended from "a line
> that my mother should never have listened to" (ahem!),
> one of whom came from France some generations ago
> and founded an English clan - so to speak - of
> considerable number, including his quite famous
> father.

There's but one very famous Pertwee I know of - but *he* was an actor named Jon
Pertwee. Who had a son, also an actor, named Sean Pertwee, as I see from Wikipedia.

John Savard