Category: Language Matters
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‘Contemporary Liberals’
When I pound on liberals, it is contemporary liberals who I have on my chopping block, not classical liberals or liberals from circa 1960. Call the latter paleo-liberals or old-time liberals. My brand of conservatism incorporates the best of their views. My conservatism is distinctively American; it is not of the 'throne and altar' variety.…
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‘Islamophobia’ and ‘Hoplophobia’
My argument against the use of these terms is simple and straighforward. A phobia, by definition, is an irrational fear. (Every phobia is a fear, but not every fear is a phobia, because not every fear is irrational.) Therefore, one who calls a critic of the doctrines of Islam or of the practices of its…
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Discussion of a Putative Counterexample to My Terrorism Definition
From a reader (the same one as yesterday): I think the two distinctions you make are the right ones to make. I doubt that the four necessary conditions in your definition of 'terrorism' are jointly sufficient, but I'm not too concerned about that. [And I didn't claim that they are jointly sufficient, only that…
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Rethinking and Second Thoughts
To rethink one's position is not necessarily to abandon, question, or revise it. One can rethink without having second thoughts.
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Islam is not Islam!
Jeff Hodges just now apprised me of a post of his featuring the following bumpersticker: My take is as follows. Just as tautological sentences can be used to express non-tautological propositions, contradictory sentences can be used to express non-contradictory propositions. Consider 'It is what it is.' What the words mean is not what the speaker…
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More Mischief with ‘By Definition’
A reader sends me this sentence for analysis: I have argued that that which exists at no location or at no point in time, by definition exists never and nowhere, which is by definition not existing. 'Nowhere' means 'at no place' and 'never' means 'at no time.' By definition. So far, so good. Now suppose…
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Word of the Day: ‘Inenarrable’
I stumbled upon this word yesterday on p. 140 of John Williams' 1965 novel, Stoner. (Don't let the title of this underappreciated masterpiece put you off: it is not about a stoner but about a professor of English, surname 'Stoner.') Williams puts the following words in the mouth of Charles Walker, "Confronted as we are…
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Is There Such a Thing as Racial Profiling?
One of the tactics of leftists is to manipulate and misuse language for their own purposes. Thus they make up words and phrases and hijack existing ones. 'Islamophobe' is an example of the former, 'disenfranchise' an example of the latter. 'Racial profiling' is a second example of the former. It is a meaningless phrase apart…
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“Egalitarians By Definition Lack Wisdom” More on the Misuse of ‘By Definition’
Regular readers of this blog know that I respect and admire Dennis Prager: he is a font of wisdom and a source of insight. But I just heard him say, "Egalitarians by definition lack wisdom." That is another clear example of the illicit use of 'by definition,' a mistake I pointed out in an earlier entry. Here are…
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Is it a Contradiction?
London Ed writes, I am interested in your logical or linguistic intuitions here. Consider (*) There is someone called ‘Peter’, and Peter is a musician. There is another person called ‘Peter’, and Peter is not a musician. Is this a contradiction? Bear in mind that the whole conjunction contains the sentences “Peter is a musician”…
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Word of the Day: ‘Florilegium’
You have already guessed that it has something to do with flowers. By its etymology, a gathering of flowers, literary flowers. A florilegium, then, is an anthology, compendium, collection, miscellany, album of excerpts and extracts from writings of (usually) high quality by (usually) ancient authors. The Philokalia is a florilegium. An album of pictures of…
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Dennis Miller on Obama
Last night on The O'Reilly Factor, the sharpest comedian out there uncorked the following: He makes Narcissus look like he invented self-effacement. In battling the Left, it is not enough to have facts, logic, and moral decency on one's side; one must turn their own Alinsky tactics against them by the use of mockery, derision,…
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Fused Participles and Ontology
Let's begin by reviewing some grammar. 'Walking' is the present participle of the infinitive 'to walk.' Present participles are formed by adding -ing to the verb stem, in our example, walk. Participles can be used either nominally or adjectivally. A participle used nominally is called a gerund. A gerund is a verbal noun that shares…
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Mockery
I just heard Dennis Prager say that he never mocks his ideological opponents. If I had his ear, I would put to him the question, "Do think there are no conceivable circumstances in which mockery of an ideological opponent is morally justified?" If he answered in the affirmative, then I would press him on how…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Beatle Song Titles in Latin
Try to guess the English title before clicking on the link. Te perspicio Dies in vita Hic, illic, ubique Pecuniam numquam me afferas Manus tuam continere volo Arcanum cognoscere vis Puella Aliquid. Probably George Harrison's best composition. One of the great love songs. Ab me ad te Hic venit sol. YouTuber comment: "The Beatles are…