Lipton’s Journal/December 29, 1954/73

The concealments of language: Perhaps under Lipton’s we do not hear certain phonetics very well. Thus “royal purse” may sound like “royal pus,” of “oil pus.” But it is possible that each word says many things at once, and languagewhich is the manifestation of the social contractcontains in its phonetics whole parallel layers of meaning. So, man talks to man, and society talks to man through Aesopian sounds as well as Aesopian words. Perhaps that is why we laugh at the stammerer—the lisper—he is always revealing other meanings of words, and often they are terrible truths. So, by suppressing consonants and vowels, look what we get with Mother. Here are the echos:

• Other, Mither, Moher (More), Meter (Motor), Mothir, Mothe (Moth);
• Church: ’Er (Her), Chirch, Chuch; also Urch and Chur;
• F.B.I. (of bee I) bee I, of I, of bee—or—be I? if I? if be? Altogether—(If it be I (who is guilty));
• Cock: OK, Kick, Ok, Coc;
• Cunt: Unt, Kint (Can’t), Cut, Cun (Gun?);
• Fuck: Uck and with different vowels—Fick, Fake, Fahk, Fack, Fehk, Feek, Fike, Foke, Fyuke.