Bush, Gore All Smiles

Al Gore visited the White House today in keeping with the tradition of the president playing host to each year’s Nobel Laureates. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall during his thirty-minute, “very nice, very cordial” meeting with George W. Bush. Seriously, what can Gore say? “Well, you stole the election, but at least you used your power to ruin the country and place the planet in peril. So I guess it all worked out.” I encourage you to read the full story here.

And while you’re at it, someone please tell me why the New York Times has chosen to link every single word of its content to a dictionary. Monday? What’s a Monday? “The second day of the week.” Hey, thanks New York Times! But even more annoying to editorial types—like yours truly—the dictionary isn’t even their house dictionary, so spellings and usages often differ. For example, in today’s article, we’re informed that Gore was granted “a private tete-a-tete with the president,” but the American Heritage Dictionary to which they link favors “tête-à-tête”—since it’s a perfectly legitimate French term meaning “head-to-head.” Also, why is this meeting referred to as a “private tete-a-tete,” when the dictionary definition of tête-à-tête is “a private conversation between two persons”? A private private conversation?

These are the matters editors ponder while other people are outside breathing fresh air. On the plus side, the Winter issue has gone to press, so we can free our minds of such imponderable minutiae (“Latin minutiae trifles, details, from plural of minutia smallness, from minutus,” Merriam-Webster—the VQR house dictionary), at least for the next three months. And, lest I forget, the issue features a great cover by the one-and-only Chris Ware. More on that soon.