Some Cross Words about a Setter

You would think that folk who compose crossword puzzles professionally would have a pretty good grasp of their language.  But sloppy clue-ing is very common in this field. "Well, as long as the setter supplies us with one a week", thinks the Editor, "we can't go far wrong.  After all, it's not as though he's writing an article".  Whether or not all editors themselves have a good grasp of language is itself a moot point:  once upon a time an editor was one who read and checked all the text that was submitted to him/her;  today a lot of solecismic* writing gets into print, as this blog is constantly bewailing**

However, when a reasonably well-educated reader of the Radio Times comes across the clue 'Verbal fury of American writer' (four letters), he/she (or let us write she/he this time) will think of terms like 'rage' or 'rant' ('curse' would have expressed 'verbal fury' well, but it's five letters . . .)  It turns out that the solution has R for the first letter and T for the third, so the American writer being clued is clearly 'Roth'  -  and the term 'verbal' is (wrongly) intended by the setter to signify 'as we hear it' (ie Roth sounds like wrath).

But 'verbal' does not mean 'spoken' or 'heard';  it means 'in words'.  The Latin verbum means a word, whether spoken or written.   What the ignorant compiler intended was 'oral' or 'aural', respectively meaning spoken, from the Latin oro meaning 'I speak' (an 'oration' is delivered by mouth); and L auris meaning an 'ear'.

A letter or postcard (a bit old-fashioned now) or a telegram (who remembers them ?) has verbal content, and so have books, nameplates and emails.  Messages transmitted by morse code or semaphore (I remember doing this in the Boy Scouts) are both 'verbal', because they spell out words.  Telephone messages and public speeches are both verbal and oral:  most advertisements and street names and inscriptions on tombs are 'verbal' but not (except telly or radio ads) oral.  Sign language for the deaf is largely gesture, which, though non-verbal, non-oral and non-aural, can still convey a great deal.

The term 'oral' is much more specific.  There are a few sounds from the mouth that are non-verbal, such as groans and whistles and tut-tuts and oohs -  but most oral communication (apart, I suppose, from kissing) is a matter of the spoken word.  It is heard 'aurally' (Latin auris = an ear).  Spoken orally and heard aurally:  it's a pity that the two terms sound the same. 

Which brings us back to the American author (Roth) and the spoken word for fury (wrath).  They may sound the same when spoken orally and heard aurally, but verbally they are quite, quite different.

*       Not in the dictionary yet, but perhaps it should be.

 **  The author of this blog knows very well that he can make mistakes, and often does. No need to remind him !

Some Cross Words about a Setter