The Logan Notebooks

Different Ways of Speaking

5 In Rome, buongiorno bends its knee and flourishes, a little ciao is a chirp of friendship. But I kept hearing this word, salve from hipsters, Communists. Hail, citizen. I remember the first time someone salve-d me from under his sunglasses. I felt so cool. When my parents say roof, it sounds like rough. As in, the rough is leaking. Or, get down off that rough right now for God’s sake those wings will never work. Soda. Pop.Waterskimmer. Jesusbug. Cart, trolley. Stroller, buggy, pram. Pacifier or soother or binky or dody or babycork. Standing on line, as an imaginary thing drawn there, or in line, as bowling pins. I offer to babysit our niece. My guy, to tend her. I like his version better. From the other room, I hear the abideeabideeabidee of cartoon scurrying, andYosemite Sam whistles Jumpin’ Jehosaphat!When a few hours later a student cries out—O my heck!—I think of this. Where I come from, a garment is a dress.Where I come from, a temple is where Jews gather on Sabbath. Or where Buddhists light incense and turn intricately carved prayer wheels. Om mani padme hum. Our neighbor across the cul-de-sac says something about gays in the military. Only he does not say “gays.” Our neighbor says something about alcoholism in the Native American community. Only he does not say “alcoholism” or “Native American.” In “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell says, “If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” Salve, ragazzi. Salve, nemici. Om mani padme hum. different ways of speaking 6 Robin comes home from school one day, panting, “Okay, so. I say yellow and you say yellow. But what if what I actually see when I say yellow is what you see when you say blue? And we can never actually know.” And I remember the same question blowing my mind. Still does, it’s just, now I’ve read some Wittgenstein. ...