ABSTRACT
Language, like other things of mysterious importance, such as breath, blood, sex and lightning, has been viewed superstitiously ever since men were capable of recording their thoughts. Savages fear to disclose their true name to an enemy, lest he should work evil magic by means of it. Origen assures us that pagan sorcerers could achieve more by using the sacred name Jehovah than by means of the names Zeus, Osiris or Brahma. Familiarity makes us blind to the linguistic emphasis in the Commandment: ‘Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.’ The habit of viewing language superstitiously is not yet extinct. ‘In the beginning was the Word’, says our version of St John’s Gospel, and in reading some logical positivists I am tempted to think that their view is represented by this mistranslated text.
