Blurbs and Bromides

Book jacket with blurbs

A "blurb" sounds like a nonsense word and its origin was a kind of joke. Nowadays, we associate the word with the short comments of praise used to promote a product. You find them on book jackets and ads, and on DVD boxes and movie posters, as well as some other products that use promotional words from celebrities or "real customers."

In 1906 humorist Gelett Burgess wrote a short book called Are You a Bromide. On the cover of his book, there was a promotional quote of "Yes, this a blurb" credited to a Miss Belinda Blurb. Burgess defined a "blurb" as "a flamboyant advertisement; an inspired testimonial." The Miss Belinda Blurb gag caught on and became associated with that type of marketing content.

But Burgess did not invent the idea of putting a promotional quote on a book. Supposedly, it began with Walt Whitman's poetry collection, Leaves of Grass. In response to the publication of the first edition in 1855, Ralph Waldo Emerson had sent Whitman a congratulatory letter, including the phrase "I greet you at the beginning of a great career." So, in the following year when the second edition was published, Whitman had these words stamped in gold leaf on the spine of the books.

Movie poster that uses a number of blurbs

In that same book, Burgess also coined the usage of the word "bromide" as a personification of a sedate, dull person who said boring things, and now bromide means either the boring person itself or more commonly the trite statement of that person.

Actual silver bromide was a chemical used in early photographic printmaking and later bromine salts were used as a sedative. It was also the basis for Bromo-Seltzer, a popular remedy for headaches, upset stomachs and hangovers. That sedated person or hungover person probably inspired the boring person for Burgess' usage.

Examples of bromides he gave in the book included "I don't know much about Art, but I know what I like," "... she doesn't look a day over fifty," "It isn't so much the heat... as the humidity"
and "You're a sight for sore eyes."

Scandals Ending in -gate

     The Watergate complex - via Wikimedia

The list of scandals or controversies whose names include a "-gate" suffix continues to grow. The suffix -gate in this usage derives from the Watergate scandal of the United States in the early 1970s, which resulted in the resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon.

The scandal was named after the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., the site of a break-in that triggered journalists to investigate. The complex itself is named after the "Water Gate" area where symphony orchestra concerts were staged on the Potomac River between 1935 and 1965.

The suffix is added to a noun or name to suggest the existence of a scandal, particularly in politics and government, especially when there is the suggestion of Watergate-like unethical behavior and a cover-up.

William Safire, the conservative New York Times columnist and former Nixon administration speechwriter, promoted the usage of -gate. In September 1974 he wrote of "Vietgate" (a proposed pardon of the Watergate criminals and Vietnam War draft dodgers) and later used the terms Billygate, Briefingate, Contragate, Deavergate, Debategate, Doublebillingsgate, Frankiegate, Franklingate, Genschergate, Housegate, Iraqgate, Koreagate, Lancegate, Maggiegate, Nannygate, Raidergate, Scalpgate, Travelgate, Troopergate and Whitewatergate.

It all started in the political realm and continues to be used there. Irangate or Contragate (also referred to as the Iran–Contra affair) during the 1980s involved the Reagan Administration selling weapons to Iran and diverting the proceeds to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

More recently, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has had two -gates. Though neither one led to any legal repercussions for him, they probably were factors in him being passed over as a Vice-Presidential running mate for Donald Trump. First was Bridgegate in 2013 when allegations that Christie's administration ordered lane closures from Fort Lee, New Jersey, to the George Washington Bridge because the Fort Lee mayor did not endorse his reelection. Next was Beachgate in 2017 when the Governor was caught on camera lounging in the sun with his family at a state-owned beach house amid a statewide government shutdown that closed such beaches to the public.

Weinergate was a 2011 scandal involving U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner and his Twitter account. Weiner claimed that his account had been hacked, but later admitted he sent numerous lewd photographs to women. In 2013, he resigned from the House.

But the -gate suffix has gone beyond politics.

In the arts, examples include Celebgate when in 2014 almost 500 private pictures of various celebrities (including Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Kirsten Dunst, and Jessica Brown Findlay), many containing nudity, were leaked via iCloud and posted online at 4chan, and later disseminated by other users on websites and social networks.

This year was Envelopegate  which occurred at the Academy Awards. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway mistakenly announced La La Land as the winner for Best Picture. A few minutes later, after the producers gave their acceptance speeches, it was announced that Moonlight was the actual winner. Beatty explained that the envelope that was handed to him showed Emma Stone as the winner for Best Actress, which she already won earlier. PricewaterhouseCoopers has taken the blame for the fiasco and has apologized.

An example from journalism is Rathergate (also known as "Memogate") from 2004 over a forged memo about George W. Bush's military record that ultimately led to the resignation of Dan Rather as anchor of CBS Evening News.

Sports has had two Spygates. One, also known as Stepneygate, involves a 2007 allegation of espionage in Formula One racing carried out by members of the McLaren team. Another Spygate scandal that year involved the New England Patriots' videotaping of the New York Jets defensive signals during an NFL game.

And those patriots had another -gate in 2015's Deflategate. The NFL investigated reports that game balls had been deflated by the team to enable firmer grips on passes. It was reported that 11 of 12 footballs provided by the Patriots were underinflated and on May 11, 2015, the NFL announced it had suspended Tom Brady without pay for 4 games of the upcoming season. The Patriots were fined $1 million and lost their first-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and their fourth-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. In September 2015 a federal judge overturned the suspension, allowing Brady to play the 2015 season. A federal appeals court overturned the lower court's ruling, reimposing the suspension for 2016.

In the tech world, Apple suffered Bendgate in 2014 when numerous people reported bent iPhone 6 Plus phones, which was later reported on by Consumer Reports. In 2015, Chipgate emerged when it was discovered that Apple used two different kinds of processors in the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, one made by Samsung and the other by TSMC, with the Samsung one running hotter and using more battery life.

You can read about many more on the Wikipedia list of scandals with the "-gate" suffix.

Boomerang Generation

Boomerang Generation is a term that is applied to Western culture young adults graduating high school and college in the 21st century in Western culture. They are so named for the percentage of whom choose to share a home with their parents after previously living on their own—thus boomeranging back to their parents' residence.

The term can also be used to indicate only those members of this age-set that actually do return back home and not the whole generation. In as much as home-leaving practices differ by economic class, the term is most meaningfully applied to members of the middle class.

This idea was the premise of the film Failure to Launch (2006) about a thirty something slacker who suspects his parents of setting him up with his dream girl so he'll finally vacate their home. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Zooey Deschanel.

Pseudonyms: Collective Author Names

A collective name, also known as a house name, is sometimes used with series fiction published under one pen name even though more than one author may have contributed to the series.

In some cases the first books in the series were written by one writer, but subsequent books were written by ghostwriters. For instance, many of the later books in The Saint adventure series were not written by Leslie Charteris, the series' originator.

     

From my own childhood reading days, I learned that the Hardy Boys mystery books were not all written by Franklin W. Dixon, though they are all published under that name.

My sister read the similarly pen-named Nancy Drew mystery books which are published as though they were written by one Carolyn Keene.

The Bobbsey Twins series are credited to Laura Lee Hope, although several authors have been involved in each series.

Erin Hunter, the real name of the author of the Warriors novel series, is also a collective pen name used by authors Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Tui T. Sutherland, and the editor Victoria Holmes.

Collaborative authors may have also their works published under a single pen name. Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee were cousins who published their co-written mystery novels and stories under the pen name Ellery Queen. It was also the name of their fictional detective, and they also published the work of ghost-writers under the same name.

Fido

Fido was once a very popular name for a pet dog. It is hardly ever used these days, but the name has history and is sometimes used as a generic name for a good, faithful dog.

I have found several stories about famous Fido dogs. It is a great name for a dog because Fido means "faithful" from the Latin fidus.

I had originally heard about Abraham Lincoln’s dog. Fido was a yellow, mixed-breed family dog from before his presidency. Fido supposedly followed Lincoln into town and would wait faithfully for him outside stores while he ran errands.

The Lincoln family's Fido

Fido did not accompany him to the White House and remained with a neighboring family. Lincoln specified that Fido was to have the run of the house and be fed table scraps and treated well. They even left Fido's favorite horsehair sofa with the family so that he would feel at home.

The photo of Fido is considered the first photo ever taken of a Presidential dog.

Fido was still living with the neighboring Rolls family when Lincoln was assassinated. As mourners stopped in at the Lincoln family home in Springfield to pay their respects, Fido was there and the photo of Fido was reproduced and sold to souvenir collectors.

Unfortunately, Fido met a cruel end. John Roll wrote of Fido’s sad fate: “We possessed the dog for a number of years when one day the dog, in a playful manner, put his dirty paws upon a drunken man sitting on the street curbing [who] in his drunken rage, thrust a knife into the body of poor old Fido. He was buried by loving hands. So Fido, just a poor yellow dog met the fate of his illustrious master - assassination.”

Another famous Fido, who really lived up to the "faithful" name, lived in Luco di Mugello, a small town in the Tuscan Province of Florence, Italy. He was a stray found lying injured in a roadside ditch and was nursed back to health by the Soriani family.

Fido would follow Mr. Soriani to the bus stop when he went to work and would wait until he returned from work. This ritual was repeated every workday for two years.

But World War II came to Italy and on December 30, 1943, the city and factories were hit by violent allied bombardment and Soriani was one of the workers killed. But that evening Fido showed up as usual at the bus stop. His master did not appear. Fido returned home, but for the next 14 years, until his death, Fido went to the bus stop to meet his master.

Fido became pretty famous and he appeared in Italian magazines and newsreels. For his faithfulness, the mayor of Borgo San Lorenzo awarded him a gold medal in 1957 and Time magazine wrote an article about Fido in April 1957.

Fido died still waiting for his master on June 9, 1958.

Sculptor Salvatore Cipolla created a monument of the dog entitled "Monument to the dog Fido", that was placed in Piazza Dante in Borgo San Lorenzo, next to the municipal palace. Under the statue depicting the dog is the dedication: A FIDO, ESEMPIO DI FEDELTÀ (TO FIDO, EXAMPLE OF LOYALTY). The statue was vandalized and Cipolla was commissioned to make a new stronger bronze, which replaced the first one and that is still today in Piazza Dante.

Monumento al cane Fido