I read that out loud and Meade — who really did not know I was reading a quote — said "Something has gotten into you."
I would never use "salient" in spontaneous speech.
ADDED: The oldest meaning of "salient" is leaping or jumping, notably said of animals that move by leaping, such as "Salient Mackrel." The second oldest meaning (this is all from the OED) refers to water jetting forth or "leaping upwards":
1669 R. Boyle Contin. New Exper. Physico-mech. iv. 17 We could take notice of the Lines describ'd by the Salient water, as the ejaculation of that Liquor grew still fainter and fainter.So when you hear "salient," think: ejaculating. Of course, an ejaculation is a part of speech. Trump frequently ejaculates. It's true!
I was reading this aloud and Meade said: "More ejaculate from the non-wimp." The reference is to the notorious Carter era headline: "More Mush from the Wimp." (Side note: How good it is that Jimmy Carter is now cancer free.) I googled to get to a link for "More Mush from the Wimp," and it took me to an essay Roger Kimball published yesterday, "More Mush From the Wimp." I immediately assumed he was talking about Obama's Oval Office speech, but it was about Peter Salovey, the President of Yale. Here's one sentence written by Kimball, and it's the opposite of an ejaculation, which is a verbal expression of a word or 2 or 3, though it does contain an erection:
At Yale, the ursine circus culminated (as of this writing) in a late-night march to Salovey’s house where “traumatized” students presented a long list of demands, including abolition of the title “Master” for the heads of Yale’s residential colleges, the erection of a monument in a prominent public space acknowledging that Yale had been built on land “stolen” from “indigenous peoples,” renaming Calhoun College because its namesake, the Congressman, Senator, Vice President, and Secretary of War, had also been a strong advocate of slavery, a mandatory “ethnic studies” requirement for all students, and more attention, money, and privileges for Yale’s “students of color.”That's a very long sentence — 103 words — and I was going to ejaculate "Diagram that!" but it's actually pretty easy to diagram, the length mostly attributable to a long list. Did you enjoy "ursine circus"? I like the look and the sound, but I would never choose to ridicule students with an animal metaphor and, worse, the poor bears who are exploited in circus work don't deserve the comparison to Ivy League college students choosing to devote themselves to pushing for greater attention to racial matters. Perhaps someone could compose a fable about circus bears getting the idea of protesting their dismal condition and deciding that the crucial problem was race consciousness. Why is it always the black bear? You never see a polar bear forced to jump through a hoop of real fire!
Posts
72 comments:
Truth to power! Gee, where have we heard that expression before? What goes around comes around.
"the Southern Poverty Law Center on Monday sent out a release disputing the findings, calling the study “debunked” and claiming it was spearheaded by a “conspiracy theorist.”
HAHAHAHAHA
The SPLC !!!!
HAHAHAHA
So if I understand correctly, Althouse's speech is not normally peppered with the word "salient"?
Salient and important. Department of Redundancy Department.
I could never vote for Trump, but the guy is a mesmerizing showman. I could spend hours watching him speak in front of rabid fans.
I was cheered by news that Cruz is ahead in Iowa. Anything to get Trump out of the race.
I watched Trump speaking on TV last night. I still think he's a buffoon, but he's saying what Americans - some Americans anyway - want to hear:
"Profiling? Yeah, go ahead and profile. I'll defend you 100%." "The media, at least 75%, are dishonest. "Why aren't we spying on mosques?"
There was more in this vein. Scrape off the rhetoric, and what he says is right. Why aren't we monitoring what's being said in mosques, if home-grown radicals are the big threat? NYPD was doing it until the PC Police decided it was profiling, which, by the way, is just common sense. If Muslims are the threat, should we be checking on Presbyterians, just to be fair? Strip searching Jews at the airport, to keep the percentages balanced? Body scanning nuns?
Take one look at that happy-couple entry photo of Fayood and Fatima, and tell me - in your instinctive gut - Trump is wrong. Would you want to be flying on a plane with them? Sure, you would, because we're civilized and polite, but would you feel comfortable about it?
Trump was getting big cheers and applause. Why are the other candidates ignoring this?
Why not?
BTW, M/S Bookshelf 2000, such as it is, lists "lectern" as a 2nd synonym for "podium."
Or "important" in self-description?
@lgv
He tends to say things twice, often with the same words. The linked article has: "This is pretty heavy stuff but we have to do it. We have no choice. We have no choice.”
Repetitions with 2 words that mean the same thing is a time-honored figure of speech, as in "safe and sound."
There's got to be a term for that, maybe polyptoton.
American Muslim leaders should offer to take Trump on a tour of Mecca. If Islam is compatible with American values Muslim American leaders should how it truly is compatible with American values.
"ordain and establish"
"free and independent"
"abuses and usurpations"
"privileges and immunities"
I can't tell if Trump is a master strategist. But I can say that he is no bumbling idiot. Byron York lays out the pattern seen in Trump pronouncements similar to what I am thinking -- check his twitter TL.
A salient is an extension of one army across the old line (border).
Trump has created a verbal salient across the invading Jihadists Army's line of advance and challenged us to come up on that hill and fight, and be sure to bring guns and ammo with you.
The fight for control of North America is in its final stages. And the jealous world thought Smiling Obama and drunken corruptocrat Hillary had surrendered us to them.
I would never use "salient" in spontaneous speech.
So just be grateful. Trump's "misuse" of the English language will give you hours of fun and countless blog posts as you justify your existence .
BDNYC wrote: Anything to get Trump out of the race.
Please, just don't go so far as to call for his assassination has some tweeters are already doing.
Trump talking about Muslims sounds like Sanders talking about bankers.
pleonasm
Salient just sticks out ahead of the charge. It's a military term.
Importance may reside in the strategy.
I can't confirm this because etymonline says it has a new professionally designed search engine, and searches no longer work.
pleonasm... that seems right
The other candidates are anxious to say they're all PC on the matter.
Do they know about US immigration policy history?
Before Ted Kennedy it was restricted to countries thought to be compatible with American values.
Pleonastically is a great word, too.
Usage: Hoi Polloi is often used with a the pleonastically added at the start.
That is, Hoi Polloi means 'the masses' -- to say 'the hoi polloi' (The the masses) is to use a pleonasm.
Lyle Smith
Non-Muslims not allowed in Mecca.
We have no choice. We have no choice.
At the end of the day Trump is a salesman. Repeating things for emphasis. Getting people used to saying yes. Its all part of the job.
Previous post: "Most recently, a poll from the Center for Security Policy released data showing '25% of those polled agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad'"
Pew: "As in 2007, very few Muslim Americans – just 1% – say that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilian targets are often justified to defend Islam from its enemies; an additional 7% say suicide bombings are sometimes justified in these circumstances. Fully 81% say that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians are never justified."
So 19% say that "suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians" is sometimes justified.
pleonasm
"Peonasm" perfectly describes Dem's talking down to people.
Ann, just because you would not use "salient" does not mean that everyone else is thus limited. I use it from time to time (not daily), and I readily understand it. Why not?
chick, you are a bitch to Althouse.
you sound like a petty queen.
I have my issues with Trump, but is he really less qualified for high office than, say, BHO? Or Hillary!? Or any of the knuckleheads running? The notion that he has to be some kind of super wonk with brilliantly laid out position papers and plans for everything is nuts. And he does speak to a lot of Americans who believe that the Feds are ignoring a HUGE problem. Someone, perhaps on this blog, compared him to Andrew Jackson- a good comparison I think. Jackson was LOATHED by the smart set /Washington insiders of the time (Martin Van B. excepted) just as Trump is , but his program was prettty simple. And it appealed to many Americans of the 1820' and 30's.
The way Trump talks about himself reminds me a lot of 90s hip-hop rhetoric. He's praised himself, explicitly and openly, more than anyone in this world has ever praised him, that's for sure.
McGraw Hill Public Speaking Guide...#3, Try Using Repetition
"....effective stylistic techniques are based on the repetition of key words or phrases..."
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/comm/new-home/tutorial/speak/devices.htm
Or just "couplet," right? You're a law professor!
JSM
And that is precisely the danger of a demagogue.
He doesn't care what he says.
Trump is changing the conversation and stretching it like a rubber band. It'll bounce back a little bit more toward the center, but it may not snap all the way back to the left where it has been dominated.
And Cruz might look like the reasonable candidate to handle the crises. Maybe it is the current controversy, but Trump is not complaining about recent polls showing Cruz leading n Iowa.
The further Trump moves things and says "what has to be said" or considered, the less attractive Hillary! and Huma look in regards to leading the fight against ISIS.
Whether or not what he says is appropriate, he knows a large majority are sick and tired of political correctness. In the vacuum of elite media, and campus leftists it must me hard to understand.
BDNYC, I agree.
He says what we are not allowed to say and people like him for it. I like him for it. I just don't always agree with him, nor do I want him running the country. Think about the California vote on Prop 8. The vote was 52% in favor. Yet, a public poll would yield very different results. Trump's stand on immigration feeds on a frustration wherein people are afraid not to adhere the "good" position. And they should be afraid. People lose their jobs by wrong thinking out loud.
Althouse; this is a bit off topic from Trump, but you raised it. Do you really believe Jimmy Carter, about being "cancer-free"? No oncologist uses language like that. Oncologists and other treaters talk about five-year survival. Nobody on earth knows who is "cancer free." I don't know if you are cancer-free or if I am cancer free. Even if you and I underwent blood work, and full-body CT/MRI/bone scans, we couldn't say if we were "cancer free."
Now back on topic. Trump's careless language. I actually think Jimmy Carter is prone to the same, to a surprising degree. Non-lawyers tend to be more casual with some kinds of declarations and as we both know, neither Trump nor Carter are lawyers.
When there is another attack, and we go through a one week fiasco dragging the media and the Democrat party to admit it was terrorism, Trump is going to be trumpeting the "I told you so" line and "these people in charge are idiots".
I'm not sure he wants to be President as much as he wants to be heard.
The root of his proposal is forced by the fact that Tashfeen Malik's visa application contained a false address and it was not caught. I think what he is trying to refute the Obama administration's claim that they can accurately screen and vet incoming refugees.
As a negotiator, he throws out the not-even-on-the-table proposal, and after the other side is done vilifying him, they will have to counter.
In order to really counter Trump you can't just say, "this is not our values". OK fine. But in the end, because we are talking about people dying, you have to be able to say, "his proposal is ridiculous and unnecessary because we have an air tight vetting procedure."
And the problem is, we don't. Unless, of course, we route them all to Madison.
Those who respond to this proposal by saying it's bigoted and prejudiced (a pleonasm, I'm told) are playing right into Trump's hands. His whole point is that we are in a war for national survival, and we have to do what's necessary to win that war, even if it offends the delicate sensitivities of our opinion leaders. The US suspended a lot of people's civil liberties during WW II and as I recall, the Brits suspended all civil liberties.
Christie is quoted as saying that it's an ignorant proposal. I don't know how he developed that thought, but that's the right approach. If you bar all Muslims from entering the country, then IS will train some operatives to pose as Christians or Jews (See, I'm circumcised!) or something else to get them into the country. You may put a small extra burden on the terrorists, but you won't improve security at all. But you will offend the anti-IS Muslims with whom we are allied against IS, or with whom we'd like to be allied. The Middle East is overwhelmingly Muslim; if you want to do battle there you need to have as many Muslim allies (or at least neutrals) as possible.
We all seem to understand that we get more of what we reward (and therefore, the core problem is with us). But with college students, this basic idea is often ignored. There's nothing wrong with the students. They're engaging in a bit of activism, which all students should at least once. (It's not their fault they have nothing real to protest against. As with Teddy Roosevelt in the Spanish American War, it's the only issue they have, so they'll have to make the most of it.) The problem is with the administrations that have abdicated their role as responsible adults. So fond are they of their own student radical memories that they can't bring themselves to speak truth to power when the power is anti-culture, I mean counterculture.
More much from the wimp was a dummy headline for an editorial that wasn't replaced before printing. The paper, something in Maine?, was leftist.
All from memory. No google involved.
Trump is a self-proclaimed homo sapiens who often masticates in public, and ejaculates when showing off an erection.
Re: Polar bears and circus acts. I suspect they are not used for the same reason Grizzly bears are not use. More dangerous than black bears.
The way Trump talks about himself reminds me a lot of Obama. He's praised himself, explicitly and openly, more than anyone in this world has ever praised him, that's for sure.
FTFY.
A lot of my friends disagree, but I think Trump starts off laying out an "extreme position" and then "moderates" closer to what he actually wants to show he's reasonable.
Rep Michael McCaul (R), Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said today in a speech, “I can also reveal today that the U. S. government has information to indicate that individuals tied to terrorist groups in Syria have already attempted to gain access to our country through the U. S. refugee program,”
It's a speech from today. But there are only about three sources listed on a Google search. The link above in from CNS. I pretty sure this guy has access to intelligence, and is just no obeying the White House "don't tell anybody" rule.
But CNN and the rest of the media outlets are in on the game.
Does anybody really think the ISIS is not going to slip some jihadists into the US through this program? Worked in France.
As we argue "values" I would say suicide is not and American value. It was a Japanese value during WWII, and a current value of Islamic Terrorists. Do we have to incorporate it to remain open minded?
Gusty Winds rubber band metaphor is a good one. Trump is forcing us to actually talk about Islam and violent Islam or Islamists. He's doing us all a good turn.
David Begley,
I know that non-Muslims are not allowed to visit Mecca. That is why Muslim-American leaders should try and take Trump to Mecca. Muslim-Americans need to be a force of change in Islam. They need to embrace all the haters and show the haters how tolerant Islam is.
Islam must change if it is going to be truly compatible with American values.
... or Trump should go to Mecca and give a speech there, like Obama went to Berlin. CNN could film it. How awesome would that be?
Trump is at it again. He crudely inseminates ideas into the political debate when he ejaculates a salient truth.
But his ideas are salty ones that do flavor the bland narrative diet of "only surrender ends conflict." Trump actually expects wants an unconditional surrender by the Saudi sponsored Muslin Caliphate.
I don't think people are really appreciating the mastery of Trump just yet.
Is he saying outrageous things? Yes. Does he believe them? Maybe. But remember, he is the master of deal making. As was stated earlier, he starts with demands not even on the table.
Take this recent proposal about limiting Muslim immigration. At first, its shocking. Wait, don't we have religious freedom in this country?! Is the initial response. Then, as always, the media takes it to the extreme. Does Trump want to keep out Muslim US Citizens? Trumps spokesperson doesn't say yes, he says, Mr Trump says everyone.
And boom! Now he hasn't only double down, now he is including American Muslims?! Outrageously outrageous! Suddenly heads start to explode.
My first thought was, the media are idiots. His proposal was about immigration. Immigration is not US Citizens.
But now I'm thinking this is a perfect set up by Trump and maybe even organized by his campaign. Now Trump can walk back the US Citizen portion and everyone can breath a sigh of relief and say, oh, ok, he is just talking about Muslim immigration.
And just like that, its no longer so outrageous.
When people start their post with "I won't vote for Trump...."
I stop reading.
From an old-timey novel:
Tom and Sarah were having social intercourse when Tom ejaculated, "I'm done!"
Sarah's surprise was naked. Tom was usually quite pusillanimous. He was normally a good negotiator but this time he had dickered more than she could handle.
Tom looked into the rear view mirror and saw an ass. It was pulling a cart made of shittim wood.
"Don't forget your rubbers!" Sarah shouted at him as he pulled out.
No Eric. Trump was speaking about prohibiting entrance of ALL Muslims into the US, not just immigrants. He stated on the Greta Susteren show "ALL" Muslims. When asked to clarify his campaign stated, that yes Trump meant ALL Muslims. Which includes tourists, US military members, US citizens, foreign business persons, those attending sporting (lol!) events, etc, etc. He backtracked from that only this AM. Interesting how Trumpeteers hear only what they want to hear.
Chuck:
There are drugs in testing that will cure brain cancer. ZIOP is one company with drugs.
I wonder how many terrorists Trump has recruited just in the past 24 hours. ISIS couldn't hope for a better spokesperson.
There's a colloquial quality to Trump's speech that gives one a sense of intimacy. He's like someone spouting off in the locker room. You might not agree with him but you grant and accept the rough edges of his speech because it demonstrates candor and the reality of his feelings and it presupposes that, in the end, we're all members of the same club.........I just don't understand why our immigration program actively encourages people who hate America to move to this country.
Pleonasm? That's where your verbal system bursts and you hemorrhage extra words into your intellectual core?
Seriously, though. I don't think pairs like "privileges and immunities" are pleonastic redundancies. There is a real difference between a privilege and an immunity. One is active (I have a special right to do this) and the other is passive (you may not do that thing to me).
Professor A, what say you?
Blogger garage mahal said...
I wonder how many terrorists Trump has recruited just in the past 24 hours. ISIS couldn't hope for a better spokesperson.
Oddly enough we already have the answer to this.
It's the exact same number of rapists who were created by short skirt wearing girls.
Blogger Amanda said...
No Eric. Trump was speaking about prohibiting entrance of ALL Muslims into the US, not just immigrants. He stated on the Greta Susteren show "ALL" Muslims. When asked to clarify his campaign stated, that yes Trump meant ALL Muslims. Which includes tourists, US military members, US citizens, foreign business persons, those attending sporting (lol!) events, etc, etc. He backtracked from that only this AM. Interesting how Trumpeteers hear only what they want to hear.
Oh well, if you say so.
Just kidding.
It's suspicious you didn't provide a link. Instead of taking your word for it, I'll wait for proof. Link or you're just making it up.
so ya lost Cheney but gained the skinheads...keep defending him.
please.
Amanda said...
No Eric. Trump was speaking about prohibiting entrance of ALL Muslims into the US, not just immigrants. He stated on the Greta Susteren show "ALL" Muslims. When asked to clarify his campaign stated, that yes Trump meant ALL Muslims. Which includes tourists, US military members, US citizens, foreign business persons, those attending sporting (lol!) events, etc, etc. He backtracked from that only this AM. Interesting how Trumpeteers hear only what they want to hear.
12/8/15, 10:47 AM
Interesting coming from someone who supports Step N Fetch It scraping and bowing to the Saudi king.
"Do you really believe Jimmy Carter, about being "cancer-free"? "
Yes and I recall Paul Tsongas saying he was cancer free in 1992 when he was running against Bill Clinton. He died of it in 1995.
garage mahal: I wonder how many terrorists Trump has recruited just in the past 24 hours. ISIS couldn't hope for a better.
Zero. Radical Islam disdains weakness above all else, something that Trump doesn't project. All Trump did was give the Progressives another conniption, and got Obama's speech off the front page.
Compare and contrast Trump's manly forceful ejaculations to Obama's weak dribblings. It must burn Obama that The Old Man has more spunk than he does.
"Why is it always a black bear ...."
Polar bears are bigger and are reputed to have killed and or eaten more people than all other types of bears combined.
When I hear "salient", I tend to think "area of attack".
Per Wikipedia - In military terms, a salient is a battlefield feature that projects into enemy territory, like Ypres in the First World War.
In context, though, I think "salient" is simply used to mean "relevant"; "most noticeable or important."
It does not, in modern usage, mean "an ejaculation" of any sort, no.
I use the word salient. There's not really good synonym for the context in which I use it, which has nothing to do with ejaculation.
I find it really rather odd that people are accusing Trump of ignoring the constitution, when the administration seems to be veering towards several violations of the First Amendment.
Can we really shut down the internet? Can we constitutionally shut down all the Muslim sites that give justification for violent war against the enemy that is the US? Not under the First Amendment, we can't.
No Eric. Trump was speaking about prohibiting entrance of ALL Muslims into the US, not just immigrants. He stated on the Greta Susteren show "ALL" Muslims. When asked to clarify his campaign stated, that yes Trump meant ALL Muslims. Which includes tourists, US military members, US citizens, foreign business persons, those attending sporting (lol!) events, etc, etc. He backtracked from that only this AM. Interesting how Trumpeteers hear only what they want to hear.
So, he advocates an immigration policy that is identical to the Democrats' plan for gun control in re the Do Not Fly List.
I wonder how many terrorists Trump has recruited just in the past 24 hours. ISIS couldn't hope for a better spokesperson.
Funny, they had no problem with recruitment before Trump said anything also.
I was going to ejaculate "Diagram that!" but it's actually pretty easy to diagram, the length mostly attributable to a long list.
When I was a middle school History teacher, I was the only one on campus who knew how to diagram sentences. At least half the staff didn't even know what it was.
At the high school where I work, things aren't that bad...but nobody teaches diagramming sentences anymore...I don't even think the AP English classes do.
Cease and desist, such doublets are supposed to have arisen in Norman England to make official pronouncements clear to the two main dialects spoken at court.
"Ann, just because you would not use "salient" does not mean that everyone else is thus limited. I use it from time to time (not daily), and I readily understand it. Why not?"
I didn't say it was bad only that Meade should have guessed it wasn't me just saying that. But I think he thought I was reading something I wrote. I'm pretty unlikely to write that word too. It just seems stiff and square. I'd say something "stands out" before I say it's "salient." More concrete and visualizable.
@Althouse: Your preference to avoid words like "salient" (except perhaps in the technical military sense) would I believe be approved by George Orwell, who is, stylistically, my favorite English essayist. So good on you!
Carter's brain cancer drug invented by Jews in Israel.
Good thing Jimmy didn't boycott THAT product.
And remind me how many life saving drugs are invented in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia etc.
The descriptor "ursine circus" is appropriate for the student protests because, as some wit once said, it is not that the bears dance well, but that they dance at all, which makes them amusing.
Doing something totally against the nature of the beast, like students demanding anything more than later classes, is always amusing, always an "ursine circus."
Also notable is that ursine circuses are not natural occurrences; those are trained bears led by professional handlers you see dancing around the center ring. Likewise, the students didn't come up with these nationwide protests themselves. They are preparing the battlespace for the 2016 elections at the urging and with the organizing of community activist wannabe powerbrokers.
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