I've been thinking a lot about the word "churlish" recently. "Rude in a mean-spirited or surly way," says the dictionary. I think of it more as going out of your way to be unpleasant when you don't need to.
The first time I encountered it was in John Fowles's novel "Daniel Martin." The titular character was flying back to England from California and had run into an old friend on the plane. When they landed at Heathrow in the wee hours, the friend offered to give him a ride home. Daniel didn't want to accept, but "it seemed churlish to refuse." (As an aside, Daniel clearly had his antennae up; the old friend was having an affair with his secretary, Daniel's daughter.)
Churlish behavior seems to be increasingly common, even from people who should know better. In a recent "Wall Street Journal" opinion piece, Joseph Epstein encouraged our incoming First Lady, Jill Biden, not to use the title "Dr.," even though she has earned a Ph.D. He considers it pretentious; he thinks only medical doctors should call themselves "Dr." He used the word "kiddo" when he was addressing Mrs. Biden, as if he was being avuncular.
Churlish. Exhibit A.
Why, WHY, would you do such a thing? Why would you write such a nasty, unnecessary piece? Surely there are plenty of other pretentions he could have highlighted that are far worse and far more timely.
As you might expect, the reaction to the op-ed was furious (and not only from academics) and in many cases involved a lot of F-words. Two wrongs don't make a right, but he kind of asked for it.
