English Language FAQ

On June 16, 1904, James Joyce met his future wife, Nora. He later memorialised the date as Bloomsday - the day of  Leopold Bloom 's twenty-four-hour mock-odyssey around Dublin in Ulysses (1922).  Ulysses  is renowned for the daunting challenge it poses readers ( see here for a brief beginner's guide). It also weighs in at close to a thousand pages in the paperback edition.  What happens on Bloomsday? Joyce - whose self-importance matched his monumental talent - believed Ulysses would provide scholars with 'a lifetime' of material.  Doubtless, he would think it fitting that thousands now attend public readings of his work, most famously in Dublin, where Bloomsday is a major tourist event.   What happens in Ulysses?

Mr Bloom prepares breakfast for himself, his wife & his cat. Photo by  Vital Sinkevich  on  Unsplash Ulysses (1922) is a long novel in which, on the surface, very little happens. 

  What makes a word beautiful? The marriage of form, function and sound? The meaning? The etymology?   Anyway, here is my list. OK - Alan Metcalf makes a strong case for what he calls 'America's greatest word'. He argues that OK encapsulates the American spirit of tolerance, enterprise, and practicality. Love - the word that features in the title of 12 Beatles songs ( All You Need Is- /Can’t Buy Me -/And I - You ). And 113 US Number One singles. Yes - Joyce describes this as the feminine word and has Molly Bloom end Ulysses with a resounding tribute to it: 'yes and his heart was going like mad, and yes I said yes I will Yes. "  Bewitched - beautiful sound, beautiful Rodgers & Hart song, magical idea. Would also enter ‘bothered’ and ‘bewildered but with only five  Twilight - vampire fans are banned from voting. Iridescent ( ir-i-DES-ent) - ‘brilliant, lustrous, colourful’ - what more could you ask from a word? Serendipity - the beauty of chance/fate Au...