Letters |
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Not Me In the
May 2001 issue of the Bulletin, in the Discipline section, Michael
A. Mills received a 30-day suspension. Being one
of the Michael Millses listed in the Oregon State Bar Membership Directory,
I want to make sure that the report does not adversely affect me. My listing
in the bar directory is located under D. Michael Mills, and my office
is located in Salem, Oregon; my bar number is 72169. I ask that
you print a clarification in your next issue, explaining that there are
other Michael Millses who are Oregon lawyers, who are not the subject
of this discipline. Michael
Mills
Blame
Shakespeare From the editor: We received a few comments from readers about our choice of words in the article 'The Salmon Man,' about David Moskowitz. We said that 'as a conservationist, Moskowitz was to the manner born.' Some said that the correct phrase is 'to the manor born,' a reflection of a type of socially suffocating British aristocratic tendencies, which seemed ill-suited to the person being profiled. We take as our reference William Shakespeare, who penned the words: 'But to my mind, though I am native here / And to the manner born, it is a custom / More honoured in the breach than the observance.' (Hamlet, Act i. Scene 4). 'Manor' was a later corruption of the original word, meaning and usage. A British sit-com, 'To the Manor Born,' no doubt adds the confusion. (We suspect British English speakers, however, understood the pun.) The phrase actually means 'naturally fitted for a certain thing,' or 'accustomed from birth to the way or usage spoken of.' Thus, when the phrase is used properly, as we did, the association with 'manor' and 'aristocracy' is erroneous and not relevant. |