Words

[JohnRoberts]

He's saying the people are the government. How is that not obvious?

That's why I quoted him literally..... He said "Well, it's time to remember that we, the people, are the government". While he was addressing a joint session of congress, albeit only a sparsely filled chamber (despite all being vaccinated??). One could argue that his "we" referred to the audience (legislators and administration). 

I can not read his mind, or his speech writer's mind. It did not sound like a ringing endorsement for limited government where ultimate power resides in the populace.

Like most political questions this is an ink blot test we will interpret using our current world view.

JR

 

[Tubetec]

Just so happened the movie 'Wall Street' with Michael Douglas was on last night  , when I read the presidents quotes here it reminded me of the scene where Gekko lambastes the top brass of the paper company ,only  it was 'we the shareholders'  instead of 'we the people' .

 

[ruffrecords]

There are quite few technical and pseudo technical terms I find pointless - 'use case' is one I particularly detest - why not say 'application'. Another one I really do not like is 'engage' and don't get me started on 'insightfulness' - all you need to say is insight.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Tubetec]

To be honest I'm just happy every word PotUSA  says doesnt resound around the planet via FB&Twitter anymore
There was a recent high profile resignation of a former housing minister here in Ireland  and other politicians who had faced tirades of abuse online , they set the tone for social media by themselves  ,looking to ride the crest of a wave to fortune , they ended up in the backwash with the piss slapped out of them after every 'head the ball' found out their name and adresses , good plan batman  ;D

 

[matriachamplification]

It took me some time to remember. I cannot recall the film, but my family and I have coined "Splimantics" as a word to describe this misuse or re-imagining of words. 

I will ask my shrink about reading 1987. From my understanding I already read it but don't remember and am told it can be pretty heavy.

 

[JohnRoberts]

It took me some time to remember. I cannot recall the film, but my family and I have coined "Splimantics" as a word to describe this misuse or re-imagining of words. 

I will ask my shrink about reading 1987. From my understanding I already read it but don't remember and am told it can be pretty heavy.

The dystopian social science fiction novel by George Orwell predicting "newspeak" is actually titled 1984... He wrote it in 1949 when 1984 seemed safely in the distant future, kind of like Kubrick's 2001, etc.

 

[matriachamplification]

The dystopian social science fiction novel by George Orwell predicting "newspeak" is actually titled 1984... He wrote it in 1949 when 1984 seemed safely in the distant future, kind of like Kubrick's 2001, etc.

Noted. Thank you

 

[Matt Nolan]

and don't get me started on 'insightfulness' - all you need to say is insight.

Gotta love/hate word inflation:

at this moment in time = now
data point = datum
in light of the fact that = because
fact of the matter = fact
first and foremost = first
in order to = to
in the event of = if
most important priority = priority
scrutinise with great care = scrutinise

and, of course

excessive verbiage = verbiage

 

[ruffrecords]

Not to mention 'In this day and age' = today

Cheers

Ian

 

[ruffrecords]

When I was at school, a group of us decided to have a 'mot de jour'. Once a week we would pick a big long word from the dictionary and try to use it every opportunity we got. One of my favourites was antidisestablishmentarianism. I actually got to use 'valetudinarian' in an exam once.

Cheers

Ian

 

[rob_gould]

Gotta love/hate word inflation:

at this moment in time = now
data point = datum
in light of the fact that = because
fact of the matter = fact
first and foremost = first
in order to = to
in the event of = if
most important priority = priority
scrutinise with great care = scrutinise

and, of course

excessive verbiage = verbiage

Some of these are tautologies. It's estate agent speak, trying to add weight or gravitas to otherwise mundane sentences.

It's a definite certainty!

Language evolves over time. Words shed certain meanings and take on new ones. There's nothing one can do about it, and observed from a distance it is really interesting.

But certain changes do grate.

And (mis) use of the English language can be mystifying for people from Britain.

For example : "I could care less" when the speaker means "I couldn't care less".

 

[Matador]

Language evolves over time. Words shed certain meanings and take on new ones. There's nothing one can do about it, and observed from a distance it is really interesting.

Don't say that to an originalist!

 

[Matt Nolan]

And (mis) use of the English language can be mystifying for people from Britain.

For example : "I could care less" when the speaker means "I couldn't care less".

Aaaagh! No!!!

 

[ruffrecords]

Language evolves over time. Words shed certain meanings and take on new ones. There's nothing one can do about it, and observed from a distance it is really interesting.

Much of the English language evolved after invasions. First the Romans, and then the Scandinavians gave us many new ways to express things. But perhaps the most profound change came after the Norman Conquest when the official spoken language became French and the legal one was Latin. This meant that the common folk (serfs) were the only ones who spoke English. And because they were common, and perhaps not not too bright, they simplified and moulded the language into something everyday folk could speak and understand. Probably the most obvious simplification was in the conjugation of verbs.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Tubetec]

Interesting theory about language bloat being linked to the number of times the place was invaded . English , I believe is one of the languages with the most words with around 500,000 



    Spanish has about 100,000 words in the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española.

    German has about 135,000 words in the Der Duden dictionary.

    200,000 Russian words exist in the Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian.

    Italian has 270,000 in the Grande dizionario Italiano dell’uso.

    French has 100,000 words but 350,000 definitions in the Le Grand Robert de la langue Française.

 

[matriachamplification]

Being from Newfoundland, get a few stiff drinks in me and no one can understand a word I am saying. Mix of many different accents.

 

[ruffrecords]

Interesting theory about language bloat being linked to the number of times the place was invaded . English , I believe is one of the languages with the most words with around 500,000 

I did not like history at school.  Too many dates to remember. However, when I left they were giving away old books from the school library. I picked up a History of England. I have read it several times since just because it is interesting and does not concentrate solely on kings and queens. It is from there I discovered the language aspect.
Cheers

Ian

 

[user 37518]

There is this legend, that the reason why people from Spain pronounce the "c" and "z" in such a peculiar way, different from the rest of spanish speaking countries is because there was a king in Spain with a speech impediment, and his court and people started speaking like him as to not make him feel bad about his impediment. It is probably BS, but perhaps some spaniards here can comment on that

 

[Tubetec]

What always amazed me about the teaching of history in Ireland was basically the war of independance (from the UK), the civil war and the subsequent formation of the state were too hot a potatoe for most teachers to even dare mentioning , but they'd bang on all day about 800 years of colonialism. 

With regards to language and its teaching,  under the rule of the UK the kids got beaten for speaking Irish , once we took control ourselves the kids got beaten and humiliated for not being able to speak it , that turned a lot of people off learning forever.The working classes were begrudged an education in case they started to get ideas above their station , Im fairly sure it was no different in many places in the so called civilised world and probably just as bad or worse in poorer countries to this day. 

The winners write the history books but the people who could barely put pen to paper tell the other side of the  story .

I'd heard the same thing about the Spanish 'Lisp' but I could never get a firm confirmation or denial  , obviously the Mexican branch of the Spanish language forked off before the monarchys tongue clung to its palate 

 

[JohnRoberts]

What always amazed me about the teaching of history in Ireland was basically the war of independance (from the UK), the civil war and the subsequent formation of the state were too hot a potatoe for most teachers to even dare mentioning , but they'd bang on all day about 800 years of colonialism. 

With regards to language and its teaching,  under the rule of the UK the kids got beaten for speaking Irish , once we took control ourselves the kids got beaten and humiliated for not being able to speak it , that turned a lot of people off learning forever.The working classes were begrudged an education in case they started to get ideas above their station , Im fairly sure it was no different in many places in the so called civilised world and probably just as bad or worse in poorer countries to this day. 

The winners write the history books but the people who could barely put pen to paper tell the other side of the  story .

now history is re-written by the teachers union.

I'd heard the same thing about the Spanish 'Lisp' but I could never get a firm confirmation or denial  , obviously the Mexican branch of the Spanish language forked off before the monarchys tongue clung to its palate 

When I studied Spanish in HS over 50 years ago, we were taught alternate pronunciations, a Castilian (northern central "th" sound) and "ci" for the common variant. The Lisp theory sounds amusing and might even be true, or not.

JR