So begins this post from Janet, blogger, SF fan and former Regina resident,at The Walrus Said.
My crime? Posting the prologue and first chapter of my SF novel Lost in Translation online where anyone can read it. Apparently the book is neither in the Ottawa library system nor in the local Chapters (which goes a long way toward explaining why I’m so excited about it coming out as a mass-market paperback from DAW–maybe more than 27 people will actually get a chance to read it!) and Janet found the excerpt intriguing enough to want to read the whole book, leaving her with the dilemma of ordering the hardcover and paying shipping charges plus having to wait for it to arrive, or simply waiting until Octboer for the paperback release.
I feel for her, I really do. But it appears the only way I could have avoided placing her in this limbo of bookus-interruptus would have been to post a boring excerpt online instead of an intriguing one…and sympathetic though I am to her plight, there are some things I simply cannot do.
Sorry, Janet.
Now, as far as the spelling of Hassenpfeffer goes…yes, Janet’s quite right, the correct German spelling is “hasenpfeffer.” But in my defense, “hassenpfeffer” is provided by some dictionaries as a secondary spelling and, as a Google book search revealed, it’s been spelled that way in numerous titles. It even shows up in a novel by science fiction great Frederik Pohl. So I’m hardly alone in choosing to insert that extra “s.” Think of it as an anglicization.
Besides, aesthetically, I think the word simply looks better with a double “s”–it balances the double “f”.
In other words, it’s not a misspelling: it’s an artistic choice.
So there.
UPDATE: Janet (a.k.a. Walrus) writes flamingly (flamingnistically? flamingually?) in comments:
Invoking other people who have made the same error, and made it often enough that it made it into some second-class dictionaries, is not a convincing argument. Harumph!
I, of course, have never argued that the proper German spelling is anything other than “hasenpfeffer.” I, however, as we have established, am not German (well, not much, although one set of great-grandparents on my mother’s side were Umstattds). I contend that “hassenpfeffer,” while it means the same as “hasenpfeffer,” is not a German word at all, but an English word adapted from the original German word. That being the case, I believe I can believably contend that the correct English spelling is, in fact, “hassenpfeffer,” and if one is to call it “hasenpfeffer” one is using a German word, and should properly also italicize it, as is the custom with foreign words in English text. To use “hasenpfeffer” and not italicize it is incorrect.
Pffft! I spit on your flame and put it out.
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:o)
I prefer to think of it as a tie, or perhaps a negotiated ceasefire. 🙂
*grumble* How on earth am I supposed to maintain a proper flame war if you keep making me giggle?
Well, I will lay down arms. War just ain’t my style. If you want to think this means you win, go ahead. I don’t mind if you want to feel good. Even if you’re wrong… ;o)
I, of course, have never argued that the proper German spelling is anything other than “hasenpfeffer.” I, however, as we have established, am not German (well, not much, although one set of great-grandparents on my mother’s side were Umstattds). I contend that “hassenpfeffer,” while it means the same as “hasenpfeffer,” is not a German word at all, but an English word adapted from the original German word. That being the case, I believe I can believably contend that the correct English spelling is, in fact, “hassenpfeffer,” and if one is to call it “hasenpfeffer” one is using a German word, and should properly also italicize it, as is the custom with foreign words in English text. To use “hasenpfeffer” and not italicize it is incorrect.
Pffft! I spit on your flame and put it out.
For the record, Mr. Edward Hassenpfeffer Willett, no matter what scurrilous allegations you may have made at Stubborn Facts, you did not win the flame war. I just graciously decided to allow you to continue in your hateful error (Hassen is german for “to hate”, in case you’re interested) without constantly rubbing your nose in it. Invoking other people who have made the same error, and made it often enough that it made it into some second-class dictionaries, is not a convincing argument. Harumph!
And I managed to get your book without paying shipping charges, so there! So what if I had to order another book to do it? You see, I win that one too!
Let me see, I’m sure I can find some other way I have outwitted you…
Er, um, well, ah, well, anyway, consider yourself flamed!
Please.