Charming Ghoti

Dearest J.,

I received the most unusual keyword hit to the biddy biddy blog the other day. Someone surfed in via the keyword search “what is unusual about ghoti”. Which is yet another one of those cosmic ironies which seem to only happen to moi. If that were only the case right? What’s rather synchronistic (or not so) about this hit is I’ve been considering writing either a sticky page or FAQs page for the blog in which I explain why I’ve used the term ghoti as to the title of the letters I’m writing. I explained this in an abbreviated fashion in an earlier letter, but have yet to fully expand upon the origin of the word, its symbolism and how it applies to my blogging efforts.

I encountered the word first as part of the email address of MMRFRO. In an effort to be punny, he used the word ghoti in combination with the traditional spelling of the word fish as his AOL screen name. When I asked him via email about his choice his response was it was merely due to the obvious word play. I pressed him further when we met in person for an explanation and he mentioned that there was a deeper meaning to the choice but refused to share it. An unfortunate behavior of his that appeared far too often when I attempted to communicate with him.

So what is unusual about ghoti (for me) other than my experience with MMRFRO?

In a recent New York Times Magazine article in the “On Language” column Ben Zimmer explains far better than I might the suspected origins of spelling of the word fish as ghoti and the resulting influence of the alternate spelling. The general consensus the word fish spelled as ghoti while humorous illustrates the illogical nature of spelling at times in the English language. Which in itself is some what unusual, but what is far more cogent to my choice to use the curious spelling of the word as part of the title of this blog is the symbolic meaning of the word fish/ghoti not only in connection to MMRFRO but in general as well.

On her website whats-your-sign.com Avia Venefica states the prime symbolic meanings associated with fish are fertility, eternity, creativity, femininity, good luck, happiness, knowledge and transformation. I chose the name “The Ghoti Letters” for this blog based upon the awareness of many of those symbolic and mystical meanings. I created this weblog with the main goal for it to be a place where I might stimulate my creativity and use it as an opportunity for transformation and change. The fish is the perfect symbol for this desire. However, what makes it somewhat unusual is the choice to use the alternate spelling of the word. As after all, “The Fish Letters” doesn’t have quite the same ring.

Okay that’s a bit of a weak argument. What is probably most unusual about the use of the word ghoti in this blog is the fact that I don’t write at all about fish. Fish in a literal sense anyway, but I write more about fish in a figurative manner. Hence using the word ghoti instead made more sense. It’s a figurative spelling rather than literal, if you will.

There was at one time a Christian punk band that called itself Ghoti Hook. And like me they most likely chose the to use the word ghoti somewhat as a playful pun and probably due to the fact the name “Fish Hook” would have sounded rather strange. Also the name was double entendre with the idea of Christ as a fisher of menan implied symbolic message drawn from the Greek symbol Ikhthus. I chose the image of a fish for a similar reason for the name of this blog.

The idea that the letters would be in someway a hook and catch the interest of any reader should he or she find his or her way to this blog. Not so sure the hook is working these days so I may need rethink the plan here. Somewhat unusual? Maybe not.

As I write this, I’m reminded of William S. Burroughs who I quoted in an email last night to someone and then read a great deal about him today. He is considered one of the most influential writers of the 20^th Century. For a good reason, he had the most amazing way of seeing life and writing about it. Unfortunately mostly due to the fact his was a raging addict. However, what I found most interesting about him was his ability as a creative individual to see things from so many points of view. And then write about it in a manner that conveyed the essence of his experience to the reader. In other words, he turned both his world and the world of literature on its head. Quite unusual!

That has been some of my hope with writing this blog. To turn my own experiences upside down to a point and to possibly turn things around for the reader so they might see things from a different point of view. Use the blog as a way to get out of my usual way of thinking and share it with others and perhaps inspire them to do the same. Of course it’s difficult to achieve such a goal within the limits of a blog. And I think I have a great deal further to go. But  I’m hopeful I can achieve that goal. If not with this blog,  perhaps one of the others I hope to get off the ground soon.

As always sending you much love!