Re: Boris Johnson and Classical Studies

As a fairly proud graduate of an American land-grant university, I'm a non-combatant in these culture wars. But in reading Higgins on Johnson I remembered a word I haven't seen anywhere for a while: _Balliolity_. Here are a couple of secondary characters in one of Sayers' detective novels, discussing the hero in his absence.


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“Forty two,” said Mr. Ingleby. “Never been in advertising before. _Balliol_.”

“Golly!” said Miss Meteyard.

“As you say. If there is one thing more repulsive than another it is Balliolity,” agreed Mr. Ingleby, who was a Trinity man.

“_Bredon went to Balliol

and sat at the feet of Gamaliel_,”

chanted Mr. Garret, closing his book.

“_And just as he ought

he cared for nought_,”

added Miss Meteyard. “I defy you to find another rhyme for Balliol.”

“_And his language was sesquipedalial_.”

“It isn’t sesquipedalial. It’s sesquipedalian.”

“Brother!”

—Sayers, MURDER MUST ADVERTISE


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I don’t endorse these opinions; I just report them. I might add that the actor who ably played  Mr. Ingelby in the BBC adaptation of the Sayers novel also played the villainous Tyrian in DRAGONSLAYER, a movie where all the magical spells were in fairly good neo-Latin. That makes this post on-topic for CLASSICS-L, according to Frazer’s Law of Contagion.


JM(“Magus”)P


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From: Classical Greek and Latin Discussion Group <[email protected]> on behalf of Szegedy-Maszak, Andrew <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 6, 2019 8:42 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] [CLASSICS-L] Boris Johnson and Classical Studies

A brilliant vivisection by Charlotte Higgins:

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Boris Johnson’s love of classics is about just one thing: himself | Charlotte Higgins | Opinion | The Guardian

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Like the prime minister, I studied Latin and Greek. His references are pure show-offery in the service of brand Boris, says Guardian chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins