Talk:accrocher

Exchange with Semper Blotto: More linguistic vandalism: Stein's inaccrochable
Jeff, Thanks very much for reverting the entry on accrocher. You are right that Gertrude Stein was committing linguistic vandalism in coining the word inaccrochable in English to describe a story by Ernest Hemingway. However, they were in Paris at the time, so it is clearly a word derived from the French. Moreover, the story has taken on a life of its own, especially among Heminway buffs and no doubt among Stein buffs, so it cannot be said any longer that there is no such word. But part of the discussion in such circles is the meaning of Stein's word, with few thinking to trace it to the French accrocher. Looking around in Wiktionary, inaccrochable did not seem otherwise recorded. The entry on accrocher would seem as good a place as any.

So, subject of course always to your editorial supervision and guidance, do you think it might be possible to make some record of Stein's innaccrochable on the accrocher page? I can understand your own personal distaste for and repulsion at Gertrude Stein's linguistic vandalism. But recording this distinctively Frnch derivation is rather an appreciation of language.

My only interest is that I was asked the meaning of inaccrochable by a Korean correspondent and thought an entry here would help other enquirers. Maybe you have a better solution.


 * It's easy really. Does the word exist? Can you find three independent usages of it? If yes, then add the word (providing a definition). If not, don't. SemperBlotto 08:18, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

Jeff,

I really like your brisk dispatch of qestions it is so refreshingly to the point. Clearly, inaccrochable is a word Gertrude Stein made up for the occasion. So, there are never going to be uses of the word that are truly independent of her, unless you allow someone else might hit on it independently. Because it is made up, there is also always going to be an issue as to whether it is a real word and, if so, what it means. In fact, as you might expect, much of the discussion turns on exactly such issues: . However, anyone reading Hemingway's celebrated memoir of his time in Paris, A Moveable Feast, is going to come across the word and may wonder about it, as my Korean correspondent did.

But you are the expert in these matters. An effort was made to be helpful to enquirers, with reference to Gertrude Stein. I am sure that if you want to help, it is really easy. But I can see that you may feel it more important to oppose linguistic vandalism by not giving such help.




 * Usage in a well-known work can also count for Attestation. Does Hemingway's A Moveable Feast qualify? ~ Robin 12:05, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

Sense 3: example sentence incomplete
The example sentence under the 3rd definition is missing things and contains only "Accrocher" Pomodecon (talk) 17:56, 25 March 2024 (UTC)