Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Language Matters

  • Ohne Fleiß Kein Preis

    Loosely translated: No pain, no gain. Der Fleiß (Fleiss) is German for diligence. Thus 'Heidi Fleiss' is a near aptronym, diligent as she was in converting concupiscence into currency. Another interesting German word is Sitzfleisch. It too is close in meaning to diligence, staying power. Fleisch is meat and Sitz, seat, is from the verb…

  • Words of the Day

    Thanks to, or rather, because of 'liberal' dumbing-down, people these days have terribly limited vocabularies. Here are a couple you should know. Both definitions from Merriam-Webster. Definition of avulsion : a forcible separation or detachment: such as a : a tearing away of a body part accidentally or surgically b : a sudden cutting off…

  • Language Matters!

    By any means necessary

  • A Comment Thread on Tribalism and Identity Politics from December, 2015

    Part of an uncommonly good thread. Here is the entry to which the thread attaches. …………………………………………………. Anon, My point was that many short comments are better than one long one. One problem here is that I tossed out a word, 'tribalism,' but did not define it. What's worse is that I used it very loosely.…

  • Latin and Greek for Philosophers

    Here, by James Lesher. Sample: Ex vi terminorum: preposition + the ablative feminine singular of vis/vis(‘force’) + the masculine genitive plural of terminus/termini (‘end’, ‘limit’, ‘term’, ‘expression’): ‘out of the force or sense of the words’ or more loosely: ‘in virtue of the meaning of the words’. ‘We can be certain ex vi terminorum that…

  • ‘Unthinkable’ Used Thoughtlessly

    People say that such-and-such is 'unthinkable.' An electromagnetic pulse, for example, one that destroys the power distribution grid, would be a calamity in comparison to which the current pandemic would pale into insignificance.  This is said to be 'unthinkable.' And yet we are now thinking about it. What one thinks about can be thought about,…

  • ‘Clearly’

    It is better to be clear than to write 'Clearly, ____________.' Similarly with 'surely,' 'plainly,' 'obviously,' 'undoubtedly,' and others. What should we call such words?  Asseveratives?  Assuratives?  I know a guy who, if you preface a remark with 'surely,' you receive in response, "Don't call me 'Shirley.'"

  • Word of the Day: Recusant

    Merriam-Webster: 1: an English Roman Catholic of the time from about 1570 to 1791 who refused to attend services of the Church of England and thereby committed a statutory offense. 2: one who refuses to accept or obey established authority. Example: So, like atheists in a theocracy, or recusants in Elizabethan England, we go underground. We are…

  • A Quality Publication?

    Well, every publication has to have some quality or other. You must mean high quality. Friendly suggestion: say what you mean. (And mean what you say.)

  • Why Typos Don’t Matter Much and the Musical Watershed that was the ‘Fifties

    This is a re-post from 21 September 2011. I dust it off in dedication to my friend Dr. Vito Caiati, historian and old-school scholar who is excessively worried about typographical errors in his missives to me. Don't get me wrong: love and respect for our alma mater, the English language, our dear mother, mistress and…

  • Aptronym of the Day: ‘Jason Rantz’

    I've seen the bearer of the name several times on Tucker Carlson's show, and I am impressed. He talks sense and his head is screwed on Right.  His appearance is odd with his pompadour and his thick and possibly cosmetically enhanced eyebrows. But we conservatives 'celebrate diversity' too.  And not just the politically correct variety.…

  • Knee-Jerk Phrases for Knee-Jerk Writers

    Journalists, for example. 'Litmus test.' 'Laundry list.' 'Sticker shock.' And their ilk.  You know what my rant will be.

  • Is ‘Wuhan Virus’ Racist?

    I'll grant you that it is if you grant me that leftism is a deadly virus and that leftists, 'liberals,' 'progressives,' and members of the Democrat Party in the USA knowingly and willingly carry and transmit it. Do we have a deal?  But if 'Wuhan Virus' is racist, then then so are the following: West…

  • Howler of the Day and a Warren Post-Mortem

    "Warren gets particularly exorcised in the more recent book when talking about President Donald Trump."  One could only hope for the exorcism of the hysterical intersectional demons in the fake Indian. It is a good post-mortem, though, of a very capable woman whose lust for power drove her to suicide by political correctness.  One gets…

  • Four Senses of ‘Absurd’

    Clarity will be served if we distinguish at least the following senses of 'absurd.'  The word is from the Latin surdus, meaning deaf, silent, or stupid.  But etymology can take one only so far and is no substitute for close analysis. And beware the Dictionary Fallacy. 1) Logico-mathematical. The absurd is the logically contradictory or…