Who made Hitchens take the big words out of his column?
Christopher Hitchens on being edited [from the current issue of the Chicago/New York-based StopSmiling magazine] and condescending to readers:
…that happened recently. I used the word “Promethean” and the [magazine editors] said, “Take that out because people won’t know what Promethean means.” I said, “Maybe they won’t. I’ll cut it out if you give me another synonym for it. You give the words that would stand for it and I’ll change it.” “There doesn’t seem to be one,” they said. “No, there isn’t, is there?” You either know what “Promethean” means or you don’t. If you do, it saves you about 50 words. And if you don’t, then you can look it up! So I said, “No. I’m going to keep it, because it’s an important word and it’s actually not condescending to Americans in the least. You have to condescend far more by finding the 50-word substitute. No, I won’t change it. Fuck you. And I don’t mean to publish in your magazine, either, for that matter.”
The interview apparently took place in summer of ’04. We’re curious: who made the Hitch take the big scary multisyllabic word out of his column because the publication’s readers wouldn’t understand it? Send nominations to FishbowlNY@mediabistro.com
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