'Honeys play me close like butter play toast'

In a column titled "The Ideal English Major," U. Virginia professor Mark Edmundson comes to the defense of, and actually advocates for, the English major. He extols, in an entertaining way, the benefits of reading and compliments all types of clever, colorful language.

I love Wordsworth and Shakespeare and Donne. But I like it when a fellow pickup b-ball player points to a nervous guy skittering off to the bathroom just as the game's about to start: "He's taking a chicken pee." Yup — hit it on the head.

This column can be droll in parts, as English majors often can be, but it’s actually very good, and quotes Biggie Smalls, so it’s worth reading. And I think it captures the essence of an English major, at least this one.

We live in the lap of enormous wonder, but how rarely do most of us look up and smile in gratitude and pleasure? The English major does that all the time. 

The English major: in love with language and in love with life — or at least hungry for as much life as he can hold.

 And, in case you weren't a fan, the title of this post comes from The Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls) hit "Juicy."