"The right phrase" How can we know that the Idea itself has any real existence apart from the Energy? Very strangely; by the fact that the Energy itself is conscious of referring all its acts to an existing and complete whole. Quite simply, every choice of an episode, or a phrase, or a word is made to conform to a pattern of the entire book, which is revealed by that choice as already existing. This truth, which is difficult to convey in explanation, is quite clear and obvious in experience. It manifests itself plainly enough when the writer says or thinks: “That is, or is not, the right phrase”—meaning that it is a phrase which does or does not correspond to the reality of the Idea. Dorothy Sayers, The Mind of the Maker wholeness
Poison sniffers An Article by Austin Kleon austinkleon.com Christopher Johnson says “prescriptivists” or “Cute Curmudgeons” — people who are interested in only policing usage and grammar rules — are “linguistic poison sniffers.” They turn language into “a source of potential embarrassment rather than pleasure.” Johnson sees his job as getting people to love and appreciate language by being curious about and paying attention to “what makes language delicious.” This reminded of Olivia Laing’s distinction between identifying poison and finding nourishment. Everywhere you look these days, there are lots of poison sniffers, but very few cooking a delicious meal… Finding nourishment vs. identifying poison writinglanguage