[Michael F]

Walter,

I was also thinking about your comments last night. Sounds like you’ve been diving into semiotics. Brave man! Don’t you think portmanteau words are ‘second order’ words that derive their meaning from ‘first order’ words, and, absent onomatopoeia and such, are still arbitrarily related to the signified? Seems to me perhaps they are. BTW, I am a huge fan of 'the gay Austrian' and delighted to see him mentioned.

Also, IIRC, Jarrell had some funny and impatient things to say about WS’s ‘baby talk’. I wish I had my Jarrell at hand, but he wasn’t a fan… I appreciated hearing a different view from you.