Vocalist.org archive


Date sent: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 13:35:47 EST
Subject: Re: Choice of words
To: vocalist
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

dear daniel,
the unfortunate phrase, 'irish bomb thrower' is one that i picked up
from my father (if he taught me anything...) and refers only to a blank
facial expression. it is not an approval of terrorist activities.
if you are so sure i meant no offence (and i'll certainly back you up on
that), then why work so hard to take offence? i have a student in the band
carnevelito. they had either just got through performing or were still on
stage when the olympic park bomb went off. did i use the phrase as an insult
to him? of course, not! if i used that phrase when speaking with him, would
he even think of that bombing? i strongly doubt it.
none of us are perfect in our expression of ourselves. i would rather
sift through someone's garbage to find their substance than have them leave
it out for fear of causing an unknown offence. so, let me go on record as
saying- if anyone has misunderstood anything i have said in these pages and
that has caused offence or hurt feelings, i do apologize. however, if you
fully understand what i mean, as i intended and you don't like it- that is
another matter.
i believe the post i was responding to was entitled 'whatever'. the
point of my message was- because of my 'bob newhart-like' (no offence
intended) demeanor when cracking wisely, there is not a real difference in
the way i come across in writing from the way i come across in person. in
other words, i give no clue as to whether or not i'm joking. if they think
it's funny, they'll laugh, if they don't, they won't. no canned laughter
allowed!

mike