Hi DC and Virginia,
Thanks for leaving feedback.
DC, I had actually hoped that most people wouldn't understand the title, but that the word might intrigue them to read the story. (If you happen to be from Scotland, or just know Burns' song "
Green Grow the Rashes," the title might be too strong a hint of what is to follow.) And your reaction was exactly what I was hoping would happen. I figured that a little misdirection might make the punchline that much more of a surprise.
Virginia, I agree wholeheartedly about him being seen as disabled in this alternate universe, and about the frustrations it would entail -- as much in other people's perceptions (or, at least, his perception of what other people might think) as in his actual challenges trying to fit in.
You ask an interesting question. First, a disclaimer: Linguists generally strive to be descriptivists, not prescriptivists, meaning that the vast majority of linguists have as their goal to describe how people actually use language, not how they ought to do so. So in my next paragraph, I am writing with my linguist hat off and my writer's hat on.
Having said that, I must admit to having erred on that one. You are absolutely correct. Since I was referring to the planet rather than the soil, and since I wasn't using an idiom (e.g., "What on earth?"), I should have capitalized the first letter. I've just made the correction. Thanks for being a sort of BR-after-the-fact.
Joy,
Lynn
