gnimmel: "April 5th, 2004
12:26 pm: Hunting the feral words
So. I wrote about there being too many words in the world. Only one little problem. The words don't like that very much. Have you ever been in a room with thirty million sulking words? It's like being at a book-burning. I'm afraid they might fly out in the night and infect my dreams. So I'm going to write about some words which I do like.

These are the words I've been stalking on the streets of London over the last few months. The words in the world of these gentlemen."

gnimmel - Hunting the feral words: "I have a confession to make. I like graffiti. That's not to say I do graffiti; "

gnimmel - Hunting the feral words scroll down : "Somehow it reminds me of the host of little symbols I used to find in the inside back covers of library books when I worked as an assistant librarian. They were little circles and squares and dots, all different, neatly stacked in rows as if they were a secret language with a meaning; but I assumed some bored reader was putting them in at random.
For some reason the marked books were mainly in the large print section. It seemed odd that someone would get out a whole host of doctor-nurse romances and Barbara Cartland specials just to write very small discreet symbols on them.
Then one day my Nan revealed that she did it too; because the books were all so similar, it had become customary for the older folks of the town to tag each book they'd read with their symbol so that when they couldn't remember if they'd read something they could just look at the back page.
It makes me wonder if there are any elderly taggers out there marking up identical housing estates just so they can remember where they've been. :)"

From: ixwin
Date: April 5th, 2004 - 09:43 pm

link


I really love the concept of feral words.

They
are the
feral
words
They have
slipped
their leash
Now
They slink
along walls
behind dustbins
over railway bridges
late
at night
when you
should be
safe at home.