Tuesday, December 30, 2025

unbeknownced

 Currently on Netflix, there's a very interesting documentary titled, American Manhunt:  O.J. Simpson.

        LAPD Detective Tom Lange says, when O.J. was supposed to come and turn himself in, he didn't show, and then - "Unbeknownced to us, he - took off."

That was the start of the infamous Bronco chase.


------------------------- [excerpt from online dictionary] - Unbeknownced originates from the obsolete word beknown (meaning "known") combined with the negative prefix un-.  It emerged in the 19th Century as a variant of the older unbeknown, adding an extra "-st" (like in whilst, amongst) which became dominant in American English, though often criticized as redundant or dialectal, appearing in literature from Dickens to E.B. White and now considered standard. -----------------------------


        There are things in the documentary that I remember from the time, and things I don't remember, or didn't know.

I never "followed" the story that closely.  But it was on TV so much, in different forms - interviews, new reports, reviews of the timeline, etc. - some knowledge or awareness of components of the case would just seep into your mind, whether you were seeking them or not.


My job at the time was working as a lobbyist for a statewide organization - during the legislative session at the state capital, during lunch in the cafeteria in the basement, I would hear lawyers discussing the O.J. case - I remember one conversation where the state's attorney general at the time said he had come to the conclusion when someone batters their wife, they are leading up to killing her.  

        Like - "escalating" behavior, as they term it.


        That attorney general was a nice person, and had so much knowledge, and on one or two occasions when I needed to ask him something, as I sat in his office, across the desk from him, he would tell me so much information that I was just pleased and honored - and a little overwhelmed (in a good way) - to receive so much enlightenment that I couldn't even get it all, but I did my best.

He was really very cool.  And filled with knowledge - that he was evidently pleased to share.


That was a nice experience.



-30-

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