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Fw: Subject: Nymphet coinage (cont.)
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EDITOR's NOTE. Those wishing to consult Beth Sweeney's NABOKOVIAN note
should consult the TN Index on ZEMBLA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Elizabeth Sweeney" <ssweeney@holycross.edu>
---------------- Message requiring your approval (149
lines) ------------------
As I pointed out several years ago in a note to The Nabokovian, Nabokov
clearly referred to the illustration from Singleton's English translation
cited by the OED--indicating, perhaps, that he himself had looked up
"nymphet" in that dictionary--when he has Humbert remark, "Here is Virgil
who could the nymphet sing in single tone, but probably preferred a lad's
perineum" (AnLo 19).
Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
Associate Professor of English
Holy Cross College
----------------------------------------------------
> >>> chtodel@gte.net 12/18/00 14:11 PM >>>
> From: "Kiran Krishna" <kiran@Physics.usyd.edu.au>
> To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> --
> My rough count yields 61 times the word is used in the first half, and
> 25 odd in the second, with a possible error(positive in the case of the
> first figure, negative in case of the second) in both of about 5. I didn't
> count words like nymphage and nymph, which would make little difference
> (They seem to occur with equal frequency in both parts) in any case. The
> usage of nymphet has become increasingly vague. Of the 6 references
> quoted by the OED, one is of VN (apparently its inventor, as he claimed),
> and another two seem to refer to it (Listener, Jan 8, 1959. Southerly,
> 1971. If the second is indeed a reference to Lolita, it is inaccurate.) Of
> the others, there are two which speak of 'nymphets' aged 19 or 20 (Daily
> Mail, January 31, 1959, J. Di Mona, Last Man at Arlington., 1974). Here,
> for reference is the full entry:
>
> nymphet [nmft]. [f. nymph sb. + -et1.]
>
> a. A young or little nymph.
>
> 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. xi. Argt., Of the
> Nymphets sporting there In Wyrrall, and in Delamere.
> 1616 Drumm. of Hawth. Poems 2 Whse
> names shall now make ring The echoes? of whom shall
> the nymphets sing?
> 1855 Singleton Virgil I. 60 Who could the nymphets
> sing?
>
> b. A nymph-like or sexually attractive
> young girl.
>
> 1955 V. Nabokov Lolita (1959) i. v. 18
> Between the age limits of nine and fourteen there occur maidens
> who, to certain bewitched travellers, twice or many times older
> than they, reveal their true nature which is not human, but
> nymphic (that is, demoniac); and these chosen creatures I propose
> to designate as ` nymphets'.
>
> 1959 Listener 8 Jan. 63/2 A whole chorus of what the
> author of Lolita calls ` nymphets'.
>
> 1959 Daily Mail 31 Jan. 4/4 He is in the thick of an
> affair with an idealised nymphet of 20.
>
> 1963 Spectator 15 Feb. 199 Two nymphets visit
> him together, he orders them both into his bed.
>
> 1971 Southerly XXXI. 12 She is..at her first
> appearance a shameless nymphet of thirteen already indifferent to
> the number of boys who have enjoyed her favours.
>
> 1973 J. Di Mona Last Man at Arlington
> (1974) 51 Most of the `sales executives' had turned out to be
> eighteen- and nineteen-year-old nymphets.
>
> c. attrib. and Comb. in sense b.
>
> 1959 Spectator 25 Sept. 406/1 Their `baby doll'
> outfits had the nymphet look which has been in fashion this
> summer.
>
> 1960 Spectator 3 June 804/1 Seems to have
> convinced herself that..every nymphet gesture..can be repeated
> again and again with ever-increasing success.
>
> 1960 Encounter June 86/2 The hero..bails out a
> nymphet-loving painter.
>
> 1971 Daily Tel. 27 May 8/4 Mother, a randy
> alcoholic; father, a seedy, nymphet-chasing Peter Pan.
>
>
>
> On Wed, 13 Dec 2000, D. Barton Johnson wrote:
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Chimene, Jeff" <Jeff.Chimene@etest.com>
> > (47 lines) -----------------
> > Here are the two references I'll use as "... in the sense of a
'Lolita'."
> > "Now I wish to introduce the following idea. Between the
> > age limits of nine and fourteen there occur maidens who,
> > to certain bewitched travelers, twice or many times older
> > than they, reveal their true nature which is not human
> > but nymphic (that is, demoniac); and these chosen
> > creatures I propose to designate as 'nymphets'."
> > and
> > "... shorts, halter, with little to halt, bright hair
> > -- a nymphet, by Pan!"
> >
> > According to the OED, nymphet is "A young or little nymph." I didn't
copy
> > the 1612 usage. If anyone's *really* interested, I'll key it in.
> >
> > Among the definitions of nymph: "A young and beautiful woman; hence
> maiden,
> > damsel." The OED categorizes this as a "poetical" definition, surely
> > Humbert's choice. His age range is "in the sense", his additional
> > "demoniac" connotation is not. Note also that H.'s is a reflexive
> definition, and he
> > overtly adds a sensual connotation by linking nymphet" and "Pan". The
OED
> > addresses this sensual aspect in a secondary definition, "in
euphemistic
> or
> > jocular use" citing "1859 Slang Dictionary 69, Nymph of the pave, a
girl
> of
> > the town."
> >
> > It might also be interesting to track the use of the word. I suspect
the
> > frequency decreases as the story progresses.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@GTE.net]
> > > Sent: Friday, December 08, 2000 18:12
> > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > Subject: Nymphet coinage
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > >
> > > From: "Chimene, Jeff" <Jeff.Chimene@etest.com>
> > >
> > >
> > > > re: "Even the word nymphet, which Nabokov himself coined,..."
> > > >
> > > > My edition of the OED dates the word to 1612.
> > > >
> > > > Regards,
> > > > Jeff Chimene
> > > >
> > > EDITOR's NOTE. Interestering, but was it in the sense of a "Lolita"?
> >
>
> Cheers!
> yours
> Kiran
>
> "It is raining now."
> -Prof. Donald B. Melrose
>
> http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~kiran
>
should consult the TN Index on ZEMBLA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Elizabeth Sweeney" <ssweeney@holycross.edu>
---------------- Message requiring your approval (149
lines) ------------------
As I pointed out several years ago in a note to The Nabokovian, Nabokov
clearly referred to the illustration from Singleton's English translation
cited by the OED--indicating, perhaps, that he himself had looked up
"nymphet" in that dictionary--when he has Humbert remark, "Here is Virgil
who could the nymphet sing in single tone, but probably preferred a lad's
perineum" (AnLo 19).
Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
Associate Professor of English
Holy Cross College
----------------------------------------------------
> >>> chtodel@gte.net 12/18/00 14:11 PM >>>
> From: "Kiran Krishna" <kiran@Physics.usyd.edu.au>
> To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> --
> My rough count yields 61 times the word is used in the first half, and
> 25 odd in the second, with a possible error(positive in the case of the
> first figure, negative in case of the second) in both of about 5. I didn't
> count words like nymphage and nymph, which would make little difference
> (They seem to occur with equal frequency in both parts) in any case. The
> usage of nymphet has become increasingly vague. Of the 6 references
> quoted by the OED, one is of VN (apparently its inventor, as he claimed),
> and another two seem to refer to it (Listener, Jan 8, 1959. Southerly,
> 1971. If the second is indeed a reference to Lolita, it is inaccurate.) Of
> the others, there are two which speak of 'nymphets' aged 19 or 20 (Daily
> Mail, January 31, 1959, J. Di Mona, Last Man at Arlington., 1974). Here,
> for reference is the full entry:
>
> nymphet [nmft]. [f. nymph sb. + -et1.]
>
> a. A young or little nymph.
>
> 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. xi. Argt., Of the
> Nymphets sporting there In Wyrrall, and in Delamere.
> 1616 Drumm. of Hawth. Poems 2 Whse
> names shall now make ring The echoes? of whom shall
> the nymphets sing?
> 1855 Singleton Virgil I. 60 Who could the nymphets
> sing?
>
> b. A nymph-like or sexually attractive
> young girl.
>
> 1955 V. Nabokov Lolita (1959) i. v. 18
> Between the age limits of nine and fourteen there occur maidens
> who, to certain bewitched travellers, twice or many times older
> than they, reveal their true nature which is not human, but
> nymphic (that is, demoniac); and these chosen creatures I propose
> to designate as ` nymphets'.
>
> 1959 Listener 8 Jan. 63/2 A whole chorus of what the
> author of Lolita calls ` nymphets'.
>
> 1959 Daily Mail 31 Jan. 4/4 He is in the thick of an
> affair with an idealised nymphet of 20.
>
> 1963 Spectator 15 Feb. 199 Two nymphets visit
> him together, he orders them both into his bed.
>
> 1971 Southerly XXXI. 12 She is..at her first
> appearance a shameless nymphet of thirteen already indifferent to
> the number of boys who have enjoyed her favours.
>
> 1973 J. Di Mona Last Man at Arlington
> (1974) 51 Most of the `sales executives' had turned out to be
> eighteen- and nineteen-year-old nymphets.
>
> c. attrib. and Comb. in sense b.
>
> 1959 Spectator 25 Sept. 406/1 Their `baby doll'
> outfits had the nymphet look which has been in fashion this
> summer.
>
> 1960 Spectator 3 June 804/1 Seems to have
> convinced herself that..every nymphet gesture..can be repeated
> again and again with ever-increasing success.
>
> 1960 Encounter June 86/2 The hero..bails out a
> nymphet-loving painter.
>
> 1971 Daily Tel. 27 May 8/4 Mother, a randy
> alcoholic; father, a seedy, nymphet-chasing Peter Pan.
>
>
>
> On Wed, 13 Dec 2000, D. Barton Johnson wrote:
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Chimene, Jeff" <Jeff.Chimene@etest.com>
> > (47 lines) -----------------
> > Here are the two references I'll use as "... in the sense of a
'Lolita'."
> > "Now I wish to introduce the following idea. Between the
> > age limits of nine and fourteen there occur maidens who,
> > to certain bewitched travelers, twice or many times older
> > than they, reveal their true nature which is not human
> > but nymphic (that is, demoniac); and these chosen
> > creatures I propose to designate as 'nymphets'."
> > and
> > "... shorts, halter, with little to halt, bright hair
> > -- a nymphet, by Pan!"
> >
> > According to the OED, nymphet is "A young or little nymph." I didn't
copy
> > the 1612 usage. If anyone's *really* interested, I'll key it in.
> >
> > Among the definitions of nymph: "A young and beautiful woman; hence
> maiden,
> > damsel." The OED categorizes this as a "poetical" definition, surely
> > Humbert's choice. His age range is "in the sense", his additional
> > "demoniac" connotation is not. Note also that H.'s is a reflexive
> definition, and he
> > overtly adds a sensual connotation by linking nymphet" and "Pan". The
OED
> > addresses this sensual aspect in a secondary definition, "in
euphemistic
> or
> > jocular use" citing "1859 Slang Dictionary 69, Nymph of the pave, a
girl
> of
> > the town."
> >
> > It might also be interesting to track the use of the word. I suspect
the
> > frequency decreases as the story progresses.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@GTE.net]
> > > Sent: Friday, December 08, 2000 18:12
> > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > Subject: Nymphet coinage
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > >
> > > From: "Chimene, Jeff" <Jeff.Chimene@etest.com>
> > >
> > >
> > > > re: "Even the word nymphet, which Nabokov himself coined,..."
> > > >
> > > > My edition of the OED dates the word to 1612.
> > > >
> > > > Regards,
> > > > Jeff Chimene
> > > >
> > > EDITOR's NOTE. Interestering, but was it in the sense of a "Lolita"?
> >
>
> Cheers!
> yours
> Kiran
>
> "It is raining now."
> -Prof. Donald B. Melrose
>
> http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~kiran
>