Bassy is a language genius of rare talent

27.MAR.09

Editor: In response to the letter by Mr. Cupid criticizing Bassy’s use of language, I would respond that Mr. Alexander’s syllabic dissection of words and then reassembling the word with a sharper more pointed meaning by means of homonyms, punning, and occasional dialect makes for brilliant social and political commentary, often the most subtle and yet most pointed in a given issue of the Searchlight.{{more}}

Such a gift for language is extremely rare and ought to be honoured and respected wherever and whenever it appears. That Bassy is able to do this week after week (though with uneven results) is amazing.

I know of no other columnist in the U.S., Canada, or for that matter, anywhere in the Anglophone world that so consistently and successfully manages to bring off such an accomplishment on a weekly basis.

Yes, sometimes I have to work pretty

hard to decipher the subtleties of some of his constructions, but I am more than rewarded for my efforts. I might add that although I have been reading his columns for many years,

I am not a native Vincentian – which may explain my appreciation of his skill. Mr. Alexander is a language genius of rare, if unrecognized, talent.

A Bassy Loyalist