Evening star., 1948-01-03
This and That
By Charles E. TraceUeH

TempletoO Jones smiled over MS cup OF cOHee.
"Come and sit down." he called.
Accepting his invitation gladly. we dropped
into chair as gracefully as the passing years
will permit. .s.=,
well" said Jones, 'l1ow did my ideas about
killing Santa Claus go over?"
"Just about fifty fifty Some people liked
them, some did not. And those who did not"
Were the most vocal" Jones smiled.
zone man who accosted me in an elevator
said you were considerable Of dub, Templeton." +"
THAT man." retorted Jones, crisply, docs not
understand semantics."
"of course not" we grinned, "he understands
money"
"A very important thing" commented Mr..
Jones.
What is this semantics of which you speak?"
II am not quite sure what it is" replied our
friend, honestly enough. Many big books have
been written about it, and sometimes wonder
if those who write them know exactly what
they are talking about But they are on the
trail of something, we can be sure Of that, and
the vision they have is credit to the human
race. They are trying to get at the real mean
ing of words, and to determine the part words
play in our lives"
Templeton Jones leaned across the table
earnestly
"The big dictionaries have q great many
words and great many meanings, but every
honest person must be aware that there is a
great deal more in words than these highly
necessary fundamentals.
"One has to know something about semantics
in the modern world. We have all been the
victims of words too long. For six years we
fought to end the sway Of certain catch-words
Hitler and old Mussolini knew their semantics." !"
II doubt" we suggested, getting In few
words edgewise, that they had ever heard
the word"
"It made no difference, they knew what the
world stood for. and applied it. We forget that
the meanings Of words are more important than
their spelling
This lecture by T. Jones, left us bit mystihed.
"But what has all this got to do with Santa
CLAUSE" we asked feebly.
* ~,
The handsome Jones smiled broadly.
II was getting around to, that" he said
Santa Claus is word, isn't he?"
Two words" we suggested irreverently.
ut still makes no difference. But Santa Claus
Is more than word, he Is essentially an i'm
mature idea. Ideas are at the basis Of the real
meanings of words. II children are conditioned
to false ideas they will grow up to do faulty
things such as make war.
"some time ago Maj Gen. c. B. Chisholm
discussed the re-establishment Of peacetime
societies. read discussion of this In high
brow magazine called the Journal of Heredity.
IN tnlS artlcle an eQlCOr WrOte that IN the
evolutionary hierarchy, the unique quality Of
human beings is their adaptability, their Unborn
ability to be nodded by the social environment
into near -Hitlers or into near Nightingales He
said that we condition each generation to their
roles by reaning the young in fantastic worlds
Of ke-believe. Fairies the bogeyman, Santa
Claus the stork have their protype in every
culture, and each Of US runs fantastic gauntlet
Of semantic confusion as we Journey toward
chronological maturity. The editor went on to
say that loaded words packed with vague and
ill-def1ned connotations explode like BOBBY
traps about us, threatening dire consequences
if we behave adaptively instead Of according to
whatever book of ancient wisdom we take as
our guide.
Unless we change from infantile thinking,
I take it, to really mature thinking" said
Templeton Jones, quoting nobody but himself,
I'VE are all going to be blown OH the map some
day, and maybe that some day is not far of. .
And you think, then, that Santa Claus Il
responsible?"
Il think" replied Templeton Jones firmly,
that Santa Claus is responsible. He and his
kind He is dear old fellow. Fairies are dear
old fellows. The bogeyman maybe dear old
fellow. and the stork, too. But they tend to
keep us from growing UP mentally, although
we may not realize it. But think we all realize
it when We zee the little boys. grown UP. going
on q Nnxs