Saturday, 11 June 2022

Fame and Success: a rave.

Who invented the telephone?

Well, there's a question.

Twenty years ago today the US House of Representatives acknowledged Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci as the inventor of the telephone. Mind you, the Senate didn't agree, and so now no one is sure what the official position is.

But if you ask people (especially people who aren't Italian) who invented the telephone, a vote would be very likely to go in favour of Alexander Graham Bell.

The question is: would you rather be famous for inventing something; or would you rather have actually invented it?

I can't find a telephone poem by anything who's out of copyright, but here's a quote from War in Heaven by Charles Walter Stansby Williams (1909 - 1975).  If you want to know how to write an arresting sentence, then study this.

The telephone bell was ringing wildly, but without result, since there was no-one in the room but the corpse.

Wow.

Word To Use Today: fame. This word comes from the Latin word fāma, report. Fārī means to say.


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