Category: Language Matters
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‘A Fetus That Was Born’
More linguistic chicanery from the Left. Obviously, a fetus that was born is no longer a fetus. To refer to a fetus that was born as a fetus aids and abets the next murderous move: the sanctioning of infanticide as just another form of abortion, post-natal abortion. The 'reasoning' might go like this: The killing…
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‘Facially’
'Facially' is seeing a lot of use recently. I take it to be an English equivalent of prima facie. Some say that we should avoid Latinisms. I say instead: use them sparingly.
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‘Educate’ and ‘Inform’
To use 'educate' in place of 'inform' shows a lack of education. Related: Whitehead on Education and Information
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OTT
Internet abbreviation: over-the-top. Abbreviations divide into acronyms, initialisms, and truncations. Or so say I. See Acronyms, Initialisms, and Truncations and Acronyms, Initialisms and Truncations: Another Look
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Word of the Day: Oubliette
Merriam-Webster: A dungeon with an opening only at the top. Used in a sentence: Since [Kamala] Harris is now on her way to the political oubliette, however, Schweizer’s discussion of her depredations is of less exigent interest than his discussion of other figures, especially Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders, all, remarkably enough,…
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Word of the Day: Zaftig
Said of a woman. Having a full, shapely figure. Voluptuous. Plump and vigorous. Rubenesque. A Yiddish word. Supposedly from the German saftig, juicy. More here. Trigger Warning! Snowflakes of the distaff persuasion will be offended. Time was when 'female persuasion' and the like were used figuratively as a kind of joke; after all, one cannot…
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‘For’ and ‘Because’: A Linguistic Bagatelle
My sense of the English language tells me that (1) below, but not (2), is good English. 1) On presentism, what no longer exists, does not exist at all. For on presentism, only the present exists. 2) On presentism, what no longer exists, does not exist at all. Because on presentism, only the present exists.…
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What is the Opposite of ‘Desuetude’?
Consuetude. Disuse versus usages and customs. Conseuetudines Camaldulenses: Customs of the Camaldolese. Cf. Thomas Merton, Journal, vol. 5, p. 349.
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Word of the Day: Praeteritio
Explanation here. Example from Victor Davis Hanson: "French’s modus operandi has been to deplore incivility and to call for an end to ad hominem attacks—and yet sometimes as praeteritio in order to liberate himself to do the opposite."
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On the Illicit Use of ‘By Definition’
This is an old entry from 2010. It makes a very important point well worth repeating. The battle against language abusers is never-ending. ……………………………………. What is wrong with the following sentence: "Excellent health care is by definition redistributional"? It is from a speech by Donald Berwick, President Obama's nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and…
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‘Knowingly Lied’
'Knowingly lied' is a pleonastic expression. One cannot lie without intending to deceive. And one cannot intend to do X without knowing that one intends to do X. So one cannot lie without lying knowingly: there is no such thing as an unknowing or unwitting lie. It follows that 'knowingly lied' is a pleonastic or…
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‘Who’ and ‘That’
We have personal pronouns. Let's use them. The man who robbed the liquor sore was apprehended is preferable to The man that robbed the liquor store was apprehended. But would I expend red ink on the second sentence? Probably not.
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Amy Wax Interviewed
Here is a taste: Once again, you’d have to define racism. You’re basically saying any generalization about a group, whether true or false—and we know it doesn’t apply to everybody in the group, because that’s just a straw man—is racist. I mean, we could do “sexist,” right? We could. So, women, on average, are more…
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Leftists Regularly Abuse Language: ‘Gun Buy Back’
The expression 'gun buy-back' as used by Kamala Harris and other leftists makes no sense. If I sell you something, I am free to attempt to buy it back from you, and you are free to refuse to sell it to me. But I didn't buy my guns from the government, but from reputable gun…