Re: Ick!
Posted by TheFallen on May 22, 2003 In Reply to: Re: Highbrow, lowbrow, middlebrow
posted by R. Berg on May 21, 2003
: : : : : Hi! Can you please explain the origin and meaning of
the word "lowbrow?" Thank you, Sax
: : : : HIGHBROW/LOWBROW - "Dr. Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828),
founder of the 'science' of phrenology, gave support to the old
folk notion that people with big foreheads have more brains." The
theory, later discredited, "led to the expression 'highbrow' for
an intellectual, which is first recorded in 1875.New York Sun reporter
Will Irvin popularized 'highbrow,' and its opposite 'lowbrow' in
1902, basing his creation on the wrongful notion that people with
high foreheads have bigger brains and are more intelligent and intellectual
than those with low foreheads. At first the term was complimentary,
but 'highbrow' came to be at best a neutral word .Life magazine
coined the term 'middlebrow' in the mid-1940s." From "Encyclopedia
of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File,
New York, 1997).
: : : Calling some activity or entertainment or cultural event
by one of these three terms is very chancy these days. There is
no general agreement or clear dividing line to
: : : clarify where (for example) middlebrow begins and ends. Unless
you are willing to stand your ground against verbal attack, it's
best to avoid the classifications. (But hey, being reckless, I'll
give you a quick self-test: was your favorite film of the past year
Adaptation, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, or Jackass? They are high,
middle, low.)
: : What if you went to see Adaptation but didn't really like it?
: I didn't see any of those three. I saw About Schmidt, though.
What does that make me? What would it make me if I'd gone just for
Kathy Bates's nude scene?
To answer the latter question, in need of some serious, intensive
and long-term therapy, I'd say.
- Re: Ick! bob 05/23/03
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- Re: Ick! bob 05/23/03
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