In fact like so many odd names, this is due to a corruption of the English language: the "moor" in this case refers to "meres", or small lakes, and the name moorhen simply means "bird of the marshes".
Young writers praised it for reflecting the period, while Malay traditionalists decried its perceived corruption of the Malay language.
Many people believe that dialect is a corruption of the standard language rather than a valid variation.
In an effort reminiscent of France's doomed bid to halt the proliferation of English words in the language of Molière, the government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi recently appointed a panel to propose measures to stem the foreign word corruption in the language of Lady Murasaki, author of the 11th-century "Tale of Genji".
A Sense of Detachment, in 1972, with its attack on the corruption of language and the prevalence of pornography, found few supporters.
I have listened as those who are the biggest offenders in their corruption of our language preach about the need to return to the basic principles laid down by our founding fathers.
Of course, as he acknowledges, people have been decrying the corruption of political language since politics began.
In this parablelike novel, a commercial "nomenclature consultant" is hired to name a Midwestern town, and his task turns into an exploration of the corruption of language.
But what Ms. Healy is seeking to say — about bourgeois consumerism, or the communication gap between generations, or the disorienting emptiness of American life, or the corruption of language — I would not dare to guess.
Although Mr. Greenwood brings a sly humor to his Chauncey-like role, this satire about the corruption of language registers only when Adan's nonsensical slogans weirdly apply to the situation at hand.
