On what? And why would that be funny? I’d truly appreciate an explanation of this supposed joke – but a joke that needs to be explained probably isn’t worth the effort.
What’s next? “Table of Contentedness” (ha ha)?
Such a spelling (not grammatical) error should have been caught far back in the editorial process. And any author who would insist that it be spelled “foreward” would be flagged as stubborn at best and an incompetent kook at worst among the people at the publishing company, and quite possibly by his/her better-educated peers as well.
I’ll see your M-W and raise you the OED. I can’t link to it (subscription only), but:
foreward:
n (obs) An agreement, compact, covenant, promise.
n (obs)The first line of an army, vanguard, front. in foreward: in the van.
(there’s a verb too, also obs)
The quotes are old (latest 17th C, earliest is the A-S Chronicle). Obsolete words pop out from time to time, refreshed from a short nap. Editors have no power to stop them. And reading the first definition, it does seem a nice joke.
Er . . . on the concept that, from the foreword, you read forward? Is this really so esoteric a concept that it requires that much explanation? Would it, perhaps, be easier for you to understand if, rather than an afterword, an author offered a backword, or even a backward?
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Because some people find puns funny? I’m going out on a limb, here, I suppose, but that’s a possible explanation.
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Good heavens . . . if the idea of an author jokingly having a “Foreward” in his or her book offends you that much, I strongly suggest you don’t read any Piers Anthony or Terry Pratchett novels.
How, pray tell, do these meanings relate to the original (intended) question? Yes, OK, so that spelling existed at one time as a word, so does that mean we can substitute it willy-nilly for a similar-looking modern word with a completely different meaning?
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Oh ha ha ha. That’s a real laugh riot there. Well worth the effort, and also well worth the resultant confusion and ignorance it spreads about the correct meaning and spelling of the intended word.
I’m reminded of the time I was with my aunt and I noticed that the “Big Sur Waterbeds” sign looked like the “g” had been taken from the wrong sign, as it was too big for the rest of the normal logo. My aunt said (in all seriousness), “Well maybe they wanted it to look really big! Get it? BIG Sur? (hahahaha!)” Dumb “joke,” if you ask me. I’ve got nothing against puns and wordplay – in fact, I love them when done well, and Lewis Carroll and Willard Espy are two of the masters – but “foreward” as some kind of opaque “joke” is, yes I’ll repeat it, not funny and promotes ignorance.
But no, I’m a stubborn stick in the mud for insisting on correct use of a word in its most proper place. Let’s just allow authors to spell words however they want, if they want to make some private “joke.” Let’s get rid of all the editors and reference books. Heck, let’s just kill all the rules and conventions of the language. And the folks who want to post to this board in l33t or all lowercase with no punctuation or whatever can do so without fear or reprisal. If they’re doing it to make a joke, it’s OK. Hahahaha. Anyone who doesn’t like it is a humorless turd.
I think I’ve answered my last grammar/language question on this board for a while. I thought people here valued input on topics from people who work in the field under discussion, and citations to standard works of reference. But lately I’ve taken too much time out of my day to try to help someone with a simple question that has a simple answer, only to be met with “Well, I think it should be this way” or some other lame, unsupported argument as to why a nonstandard construction should be accepted across the board as correct English. Want to make “jokes”? Then make “jokes.” But don’t expect me to start inserting them into the textbooks I edit to pay my bills.
Please continue your humorfest. I won’t poop on the party anymore with my boring old professional input. It’s clearly unwelcome, and I apologize for having given it.
Note to self: Do not get Scarlett a copy of Finnegan’s Wake for her birthday. She will almost certainly come down with a severe case of the vapors.
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I have a better idea: Let’s completely overreact to the idea that an author whose books are full of puns and other jokes might make use of a humorous misspelling of a commonly-used literary term.
In any case, have we seen any evidence besides Quasimodem’s assertion that any author has ever used that spelling in a book for a foreword? No? We haven’t? Imagine that. So it might not ever actually have happened.
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Phil fondly remembers his three years helping to edit and proof corporate press releases in the Cleveland newsroom of the company he works for, as he reaches for and lovingly caresses his copy of the Associated Press Style Guide.
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When you find someone in this thread that has argued that “foreward” should be “accepted across the board as correct English,” you let me know. In the meantime, please hand me that fire extinguisher – I smell burning straw.
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Um, OK.
Please continue your humorfest. I won’t poop on the party anymore with my boring old professional input. It’s clearly unwelcome, and I apologize for having given it. **
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