“Nonfiction” is one of my favorite words because it is a
puzzle in itself. Here’s why:
When we break down the word into its component parts, we get
non + fiction. “Fiction,” for those of
you who are interested, comes from “fingere” which means “to shape, form,
devise, feign,” which comes from “dheigh” which means “to build, form,
knead.” So “fiction” is something that
is invented (fingered) in the mind.
Inherently it is NOT TRUE.
Now when we add “non” we negate. Check out this picture:
à true
ßà untrue
àßà not untrue
Nonfiction is true.
How cool is that!?!?!
A fun new book that I read last week that is nonfiction is “POP!:
The Invention of Bubble Gum.” (OK, one
reason that I like it is because of the exclamation point followed immediately
by the colon—you don’t see that everyday.)
This is the story of Walter Diemer, the inventor of bubble
gum. The rest of the story—and I am not
E.B. Whiting you here—is the reason that Walter didn’t ever make money on his
invention. Walter failed to patent his
invention. That was an enormously bad
move. His original bubble gum, “Dubble
Bubble,” sold at a penny a piece and made more than $1.5 million in the very
first year. Because of its low price it
was the treat of choice during the Great Depression. So patent those inventions, kiddos!
Now, just to exercise your puzzle muscle, “nonfiction” is
sort of a double negative. Here’s a
triple negative from Groucho Marx.
Go ahead and figure out what it means.
“I cannot say that I do not disagree with you.”
I bet Marx said that because his first name was Groucho. I would say confusing, mean things too if my name was Groucho. Oscar the Grouch status.
ReplyDeleteAlso this is Amanda. On Mom's account, obviously.
Was not patenting his invention THAT bad of a move? It gave a lot of people a great treat during a hard time....
ReplyDeleteI'll be honest. I almost never don't like things that don't make sense.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes - Whitney - it was a Bad move. People still would have got the treat during the hard time - and the person who actually deserved the credit for it would not have been unnoticed.