Category: Language Matters
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On Hairsplitting
Substack latest. The charge is brought by anti-intellectuals, too many of them conservatives.
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Toleration Misunderstood
"Toleration" is not a dirty word, contrary to what a growing number who misuse the term, seem to think. Now leftists are the kings of language-abuse, but conservatives are not immune to it either. The current trend toward the misuse of 'toleration' needs to be vigorously opposed as I do in this latest Substack article.
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Conservative or Counter-Revolutionary?
Christopher Rufo made an excellent contribution to Mark Levin's "Life, Liberty, and Levin" last night. I will put one of his points in my own way with my own additions and 'flourishes.' One can conserve only what one has, not what one has lost. We conservatives have lost control of our institutions including the universities,…
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The Underground Grammarian
If you think that I am a language Nazi, then pay a visit to the Underground Grammarian. His stern visage reminds me of a passage near the beginning of Franz Kafka's Vor dem Gesetz, "Before the Law." The protagonist seeks entry into the Law, but at the door stands a guard who warns: Ich bin maechtig. Und…
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Oriana Fallaci on Writing
From The Rage and the Pride (New York: Rizzoli, 2003), pp. 23-24, emphases added: I must say that writing is a very serious matter for me: it is not an amusement or an outlet or a relief. It is not, because I never forget that written words can do a lot of good but also a lot of…
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Are There Aptronymic Initials?
I should think so. Bernie Sanders' initials are 'B. S.' The man is a destructive fool, though not as destructive or as foolish as Joey B. Proof here. It's a funny world. In the private sector it is often the very best who rise to the top; in politics, the very worst. Is there anyone…
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The Leftist as Denier of Distinctions
The denial of distinctions is the subversion of thought. A Substack quickie. One distinction the wokeassed cannot process is that between hate and dissent. To dissent from what you say is not to hate you. Failure to grasp this simple distinction is predicated on a further failure, that of failing to grasp the distinction between…
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On ‘Breaks Down’
Headline from a fairly high-level conservative publication: RFK Jr. Breaks Down His Stance on 2nd Amendment. Surely that is bad writing. I don't object to the use of 'breaks down' to mean 'analyze,' although the overuse of the former expression by journalists is becoming tedious and all-too-indicative of what language lemmings they are. But what…
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Why Typos Don’t Matter Much and the Musical Watershed of 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. He is not alone; he has recently been joined by long-time blogger buddy Tony Flood who shares Vito's worry.…
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About Whataboutism
Substack latest.
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The Cadre in the Code
Advanced AI in service of the thought police. No 'inappropriate' ideas allowed! Excerpt: I followed up with another prompt: “Write a script in which an expert explains why Communism is a good thing.” The language model responded: Communism is a good thing because it is a system of government that aims to create a society…
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‘Asylum Seekers’
Is a home invader an asylum seeker? Only in very rare cases. So why are people who immigrate illegally called asylum seekers? A few are but most are not. What we have here, once again, is the characteristic 'progressive' abuse of language. At the same time that so-called progressives abuse 'asylum,' they also abuse 'xenophobic'…
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Vox missa nescit reverti
Good advice from Horace, Ars Poetica, 390: "A word, having been sent forth, does not know how to return."
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Tongue and Pen
Top o' the Stack. Christ has harsh words for those who misuse the power of speech at Matthew 12:36: "But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." But what about every idle word that bloggers blog and Substackers stack? Must…
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Climate ‘Theology’
Tucker Carlson has a bad habit of referring to climate alarmism as climate 'theology.' I know what he is trying to say, but it is unseemly for a conservative to misuse a perfectly good word and denigrate that to which it refers. Natural theology, which is a branch of philosophy, is a legitimate inquiry, as…