Doc Searls points to this Terry Jones (Monty Python) article in the Telegraph which gets right to the heart of the problem with our present "war on terrorism" which, as far as I can tell, is not actually a "war" nor particularly on "terrorism."WHAT really alarms me about President Bush's "war on terrorism" is the grammar. How do you wage war on an abstract noun? It's rather like bombing murder. It's about time for the comedians to take some whacks at this thing (although Jones' article is quite serious.)
Rather than grammar, I would argue with Jones, the casualty is meaning. Devaluation &
deracination & the lexicographical obsession with current usage have denatured the inherent
meaning of many good old words. I'm not being nostalgic when I lament the great loss of the
knowledge of words primitive speakers must've had. When there's a serious crisis over in
Busby on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation they don't call a cop or doctor or lawyer, they call in a speaker of the language who can be trusted to be a fair mediator simply on account of the fact
he or she knows a pure dialect. The words can be trusted to provide solutions & answers. Watching the
lies slither out of the mouths of these guys waging war on what it means to be human fills me
with exactly the kind of pig-sticking hatred I'm told I should feel when , say, I hear the Evil One.
Herodotus & Thuycidides both covered situations where the powers that be
twist the meaning of words to suit their own sinister ends. The result is madness& chaos. Try this simple
experiment at home: lie to a child. Tell me if I am not mad!
Are they vandals or angels/
Having a cow incinerating towers?/
On the once blissful metal bowers/
A purely alien pain gels.
Is it Quadrophenia or Quadrophrenia?
What is the name of the song that goes
I am the man who looks after the pigs?
brought to you by...google
Phil Daniels
is best known for his starring role in Quadrophenia, but it's his portrayal of Mark, the wise ass eldest son (and the films central charactor, ignore the new posters and video box art.) of a family on the dole in Meantime that made him one of my favorite actors.
|
- jim 1-03-2002 2:14 pm
Rather than grammar, I would argue with Jones, the casualty is meaning. Devaluation &
deracination & the lexicographical obsession with current usage have denatured the inherent
meaning of many good old words. I'm not being nostalgic when I lament the great loss of the
knowledge of words primitive speakers must've had. When there's a serious crisis over in
Busby on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation they don't call a cop or doctor or lawyer, they call in a speaker of the language who can be trusted to be a fair mediator simply on account of the fact
he or she knows a pure dialect. The words can be trusted to provide solutions & answers. Watching the
lies slither out of the mouths of these guys waging war on what it means to be human fills me
with exactly the kind of pig-sticking hatred I'm told I should feel when , say, I hear the Evil One.
Herodotus & Thuycidides both covered situations where the powers that be
twist the meaning of words to suit their own sinister ends. The result is madness& chaos. Try this simple
experiment at home: lie to a child. Tell me if I am not mad!
- frank 1-04-2002 4:23 pm [add a comment]
Are they vandals or angels/ Having a cow incinerating towers?/ On the once blissful metal bowers/ A purely alien pain gels.
- frank 1-04-2002 5:26 pm [add a comment]
Is it Quadrophenia or Quadrophrenia? What is the name of the song that goes I am the man who looks after the pigs?
- frank 1-04-2002 5:36 pm [add a comment]
brought to you by...google
- dave 1-04-2002 10:44 pm [add a comment]
Phil Daniels is best known for his starring role in Quadrophenia, but it's his portrayal of Mark, the wise ass eldest son (and the films central charactor, ignore the new posters and video box art.) of a family on the dole in Meantime that made him one of my favorite actors.
- steve 1-05-2002 2:39 am [add a comment]