[Vwoolf] vermin

[Sarah M. Hall]

 Thanks, Mark. It's very odd that these mistakes are made, especially nowadays when it's so easy to check.
In VW's works I can find one instance of 'vermin' being used in this kind of context; not about servants, but about the poor, and in a satirical reference to Gilbert White's attitude.


White's Selborne
Gilbert White is far less tender to the poor — “We abound with poor,” he writes, as if the vermin were beneath his notice — than to the grasshopper whom he lifts out of its hole so carefully and once inadvertently squeezed to death.


Elsewhere, Woolf uses 'vermin/ous' when referring to other people's points of view; occasionally, I'm afraid, as a personal insult; or about rats or fleas.
'Coolies' is used satirically in Mrs D and The Waves. I hope it won't offend anyone if I say that the term is pejorative now, but, Wikipedia suggests, originated from Hindi, Telugu, Urdu and Tamil words meaning simply 'day-labourer' or 'hireling'. Then in the early 20th century it seems the British Raj started using it patronisingly and offensively, and eventually it turned into a racial slur. Like 'queer', though, it looks as though it's being reclaimed: 'A new Tamil movie titled Coolie [...] is set to release in 2025.'  https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolie__;!!KGKeukY!2xl0rcaK99-3zAJHlkut9Us1aClMYfq6_KPVEEEN_un3GXqwnG9rldXocwDg_2Kxdk3IJ6rUYRKpaPYekUzwZRVZ$ 

Sarah
Sarah M. Hall
Executive Council
Virginia Woolf Society of GB
Web: virginiawoolfsociety.org.uk
Facebook: @VWSGB
Twitter/X: @VirginiaWoolfGB
Instagram: @virginiawoolfsociety




    On Monday, 14 July 2025 at 15:56:11 BST, Mark Hussey via Vwoolf <vwoolf at lists.osu.edu> wrote:  
 
 With so many Woolfians in the UK recently for the Sussex conference, some may have heard a programme on BBC Radio 4 ('Three Transformations of Virginia Woolf'). In the 2nd episode, broadcast on Tuesday July 8, Alison Light, speakingWith so many Woolfians in the UK recently for the Sussex conference, some may have heard a programme on BBC Radio 4 ('Three Transformations of Virginia Woolf'). In the 2nd episode, broadcast on Tuesday July 8, Alison Light, speaking about Woolf's relations with servants, said that she uses the word 'vermin' in connection with servants. This is no more true than Merve Emre's claim in her annotated Mrs Dalloway that Woolf used the word "coolies" "liberally" in her diary (it's not used there at all). 'Vermin' and 'verminous' appear in a number of instances in Woolf's writing but not describing servants. Ever. This is how rumors start!
(My thanks to Marielle O'Neill for searching the online complete works before I could get back to my CD-Rom, where I confirmed the above!)

-- 
www.markhusseybooks.comMrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel 2025 https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526176813/_________________________________________________;!!KGKeukY!2xl0rcaK99-3zAJHlkut9Us1aClMYfq6_KPVEEEN_un3GXqwnG9rldXocwDg_2Kxdk3IJ6rUYRKpaPYekfTiwjrd$ 
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