Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Language Matters

  • Of ‘Broach’ and ‘Brook’

    I just found this sentence at Puffington Host: "He is so insecure, he will broach no criticism."  You may easily guess whom the author is huffing and puffing over. But one does not broach no criticism; one brooks no criticism. I brook no contradiction on this point. Language matters.

  • ‘Post-Truth’

    'Post-truth' is a silly buzz word, and therefore beloved by journalists who typically talk and write uncritically in trendy ways. There is no way to get beyond truth or to live after truth.  All of our intellectual operations are conducted under the aegis of truth. Here is one example of how we presuppose truth.  People…

  • Politics as War

    A reader sends this: A correspondent has just emailed me, completely out of the blue, to tell me that you're a “racist, islamophobe, bigot”. Thought you would like that. 😀 I like it very much except that he leaves out the remaining SIXHIRB epithets: sexist, intolerant, xenophobic, and homophobic.  But three out of seven ain't bad.…

  • ‘Discernable’ or ‘Discernible’?

    The latter.  My man Hanson this morning: Examine a coastal Democratic establishmentarian, and there is little discernable difference in his lifestyle, income, or material tastes from those conservatives (usually poorer) whom he accuses of all sorts of politically incorrect behaviors. I should think a conservative would want to resist all pointless innovations.  The correct spelling…

  • Ontological Crisis?

    You will have noticed by now that leftists are in permanent 'crisis mode.'  But now comes something new, ontological crisis: In the wake of their devastating loss, Democrats find themselves in the midst of ontological crisis . . . . Holy Heidegger!  It serves them right. Related articles Carnap and Clarity Objective Truth as a…

  • Long Lines as ‘Voter Suppression’

    On C-SPAN this morning I watched part of a re-run of a program from last Wednesday.  A bunch of leftists were bemoaning Hillary's defeat.  One Steve Cobble uncorked a real doozy to the effect that long lines at polling places are a form of 'voter suppression.' This is too stupid to waste time refuting, but…

  • English is Strange: ‘Quite a Few’

    If I ask how many people showed up at a party, an answer might be 'a few.' Another answer could be, 'quite a few.' The first phrase means a small number, while the latter means a comparatively large number. It follows that the meaning of 'quite a few' is not built up from the meanings…

  • ‘Incentivize,’ ‘Incent,’ or Neither?

    Some discussion here. My sense of style suggests the avoidance of both. Example:  "When was the last time Democrat, or Republican, tax hikes balanced the budget instead of merely incenting even more government spending?" Language is fun even in cases in which it doesn't much matter, as here.  In politics, however, it matters greatly: he…

  • Meaning is Tied to Use; Syntax Too?

    It would seem so.  Consider the way Peggy Noonan, no slouch of a political commentator, uses the adjective 'crazy' in this passage about Donald Trump: He had to be a flame-haired rebuke to the establishment. He in fact had to be a living insult—no political experience, rude, crude ways—to those who’ve failed us. He had…

  • On Mocking Religious Figures

    My view in a few words.  Other things being equal, one should not mock, deride, or engage in any sort of unprovoked verbal or pictorial assault on people or the beliefs they cherish.  So if Muslims were as benign as Christians or Buddhists, I would object on moral grounds to the depiction and mockery of…

  • Word of the Day: Fainéant

    n. irresponsible idler. adj. idle and ineffective: indolent.

  • Exaggeration and the Erosion of Credibility

    Why do people exaggerate in serious contexts? The logically prior question is: What is exaggeration, and how does it differ from joking, lying, bullshitting, and metaphorical uses of language? Donald Trump in the first of his presidential debates with Hillary Clinton made the astonishing claim that she has been fighting ISIS all her adult life.…

  • ‘Homegrown Terrorist’

    Consider three types of case.  (a) A Muslim terrorist who was born in the USA and whose terrorism derives from his Islamic faith.  (b) A Muslim terrorist who was not born in the USA but is a citizen of the USA or legally resides in the USA and whose terrorism derives from his Islamic faith.…

  • Does Trump Incite Violence?

    Yes, but only in the febrile 'mind' of an Hillarious liberal. You have to realize that when Trump is 'off script,' he talks like a rude New York working man in a bar.  He does this in part because it is his nature to be rude and vulgar, but also because he realizes that this…

  • A Guide to Eighteenth Century English Vocabulary

    Fascinating.