At 08:27 AM 10/17/99 -0400, you wrote:

>I think part of the problem with "Sally has a migraine in her foot" is that
>we're dealing with flat out contradiction and anomaly. thus, "migraine" is
>really really specific, and actually is short for "migraine headache." so,
>when we say "migraine" we also hear, "headache" even though it is unsaid.

We do associate these two things, but in medical terms  migraine and
headache are two different things.  "Migraine" is actually a constellation
of symptoms that frequently (but not always) includes an excruciatingly
painful headache.  Speaking as someone who has had problems with the
associated visual disturbances (occular [sp?] migraine) without ever having
experienced the headaches.  It is not a good idea to try driving when your
vision is splotching out.  I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do
with constricted blood vessels in the neck, brought on by misc. things such
as stress, fatigue, some illnesses, etc.

On the other hand, I am having a hard time trying to conceive of how that
might express itself in one's foot.  It is certainly possible to have
severe problems with blood circulation in the foot (although most of the
time, such problems are more widespread rather than focused in one place),
and it would be quite painful, but I'm not sure I would call that a
migraine.  Perhaps, though, our associations of "migraine" and
"excruciatingly painful" might lead one to use the word symbolically to
express an extreme amount of pain in one's foot.

Sometimes using a word in odd ways draws attention to meanings one could
not express using words in a more conventional manner.  That's really the
point of poetry, I think -- to express meanings that ordinary language is
incapable of expressing.  To do that most effectively, I think you have to
understand language conventions, but strategically choose to disregard them.

Personally, in my mind the whole reason for the study of grammar is to
enable one to use sentence structure as an aid to comprehension and style--
which nitpicky discussions on what part of speech something is or whether
something is technically correct don't really do much to assist.

I was hoping I'd see more discussion of teaching grammar/sentence structure
as an assistance to comprehension.  Perhaps I haven't found the right place
to look yet.

Susan Mari Witt



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