June 6, 2019

Trump is "really unpopular" and "deep underwater" in some states he needs for 2020.

According to Vox.

Did Vox read my attack on the word "deeply" (here, yesterday)? Well, "deep underwater" does seem to fit with the childish "really unpopular."

And the truth is, "deep" is an adverb, which is one more reason to be irritated by "deeply." The OED finds "deep," the adverb, all the way back to the year 1000. Chaucer used it — "And swore so depe to hire to be trewe." Shakespeare used it — "That Fooles should be so deepe contemplatiue." Pope used it — "A little Learning is a dang'rous Thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring." Let's keep going! There's Oliver Goldsmith — " To tie him up..from playing deep." Sir Walter Scott — "An hundred dogs bayed deep and strong." Charles Lamb — "The reason..scarcely goes deep enough into the question."

And yet the OED itself calls "deep," the adverb, obsolete when qualifying an adjective (which is what is going on with "deep underwater"). There's an exception for adjectives for colors. It sounds wrong to say "She wore a deeply blue dress" and right to say "She wore a deep blue dress" (even though we might logically think that the dress was deep). "Deep" as an adverb modifying a verb isn't wrong. Would you say "We went deep into the forest" or "We went deeply into the forest"? "Deeply" has pretty much taken over, but John Milton wrote (in "Paradise Lost"):
Oh, conscience! into what abyss of fears
And horror has thou driven me; out of which
I find no way, from deep to deeper plunged!
Yes, Trump is still President, still not impeached, and still — don't we all know? — likely to win in 2020. He's gathering strength there in the abyss, deep underwater, whatever those paltry polls have to say.

42 comments:

W.B. Picklesworth said...

Fascist Vox REALLY wants Trump to lose. They're deeply invested in it.

Laslo Spatula said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laslo Spatula said...

Beware the Orange Kraken.

All your ship are belong to him.

I am Laslo.

Beasts of England said...

How long before the leftist media again roll out 'No path to 270'?

Gahrie said...

We'll all be surprised when those races "tighten up" in the last week of the election, which will allow Vox to try and save some face when Trump carries those states.

David Begley said...

No one believes these polls after 2016. Calling landlines? I get so many robocalls on my cell that I only answer it if I know the caller.

Biden is going to get bloodied. Sanders? Please.

MadisonMan said...

Vox admits that the US Economy is humming along.

I don't see Warren getting much of a black vote. Will Biden? An old white man? Sanders? Buttigieg?

Democrats have a fundamental problem.

RK said...

To stay in the media business you need to make your readers feel 'smart' and 'right'. This means regular reassurances that Trump will definitely lose in 2020, and that 2016 was just some weird fluke of Russian collusion something something white suprematists.

Skeptical Voter said...

I dunno---Leviathan swims in the deepest part of the ocean. Until Leviathan comes to the surface and "there [s]he blows". Question is whether Leviathan is named Hillary or Donald. But I don't think Leviathan is named Joe.

iowan2 said...

Iowa? yes farmers are not happy with the tariffs, but when I talk to them in non-political conversations, they dont accept any of the 2 dozen Dem candidates positions. I had the opportunity to be out and about rubbing elbows with lots of farmers finishing up soy planting. The polls in the story never talk about margin of error.

My name goes here. said...

According to Vox
Ac cord ing to Vox, adjective
Pronunciation: /əˈkôrdiNG to͞o väks/
Etymology: Blogs, esp. Althouse

derogatory slang (orig. U.S.).

Not actually a true statement but it makes certain people, esp. bubble inhabitants, narrative seekers, or Vox opinion writers, feel better or superior to others as if it were a true statement.

tim maguire said...

At this stage, polls are the wrong thing to look at. But the right things don't say what Vox wants to say, so polls it is!

MayBee said...

I've got to believe Trump has great numbers somewhere or he'd have competition from the right.

Big Mike said...

Chaucer be damned! Modern usage treats “deep” as a noun or an adjective. Hence “deeply.”

gilbar said...

They have no chance to survive,
(They should)
Make their time

MikeR said...

"don't we all know? — likely to win in 2020." Not convinced. Whatever we thought we knew about the rules doesn't apply to Trump.

tcrosse said...

Trump can summon spirits from the vasty deep.

SDaly said...

The best part of the Democrat's promotion of the "Trump is Trouble" narrative is that it causes more and more ambitious Dems to jump into the primary because it would be their "big shot" at becoming President. Then, they are forced to attack and weaken each other making Trump's re-election more likely.

Before the 1992 election, Bush was supposedly unbeatable, so few Democrats entered the race, allowing an unknown, and unbloodied Bill Clinton to capture the nomination, and then the Presidency.

Darrell said...

Vox is trying to deplatform YouTubers that don't swallow the Left's agenda. They kicked off their program yesterday.

iowan2 said...

Trump is upside down with Iowa voters. A lot of those I live with in rural Iowa, are upset with the way the President fills out his tails. Could be the deal breaker and push them to vote for Booker. They often refer to Booker as clean and articulate, with a crease in his pants they could only long for themselves

RNB said...

"He's gathering strength there in the abyss, deep underwater..." In his house at R'lyeh, dead Trump'thulhu waits dreaming.

gilbar said...

Oh Oh I got it I got it!!!

You Democrats are going to need a bigger boat!

MacMacConnell said...

Evidently with the new Soros infusion of cash to keep VOX alive, they are doing what Soros paid them to do. VOX 2016 prediction of President Hillary is journalistic taking it up the can.

wwww said...

"I don't see Warren getting much of a black vote."
Agreed. Doubtful. Don't expect her to do well in SC, but stranger things have happened.

Will Biden? An old white man?
Yes. South Carolina Numbers. VP of Obsma.

Sanders?
Nope

Buttigieg?
Nope

Will Biden? An old white man?

Will he win the nomination? I dunno too early. But look at the 2018 Wisconsin election for Governor. That guy wasn't charismatic. Very generic. Hard to tell who will appeal to Wisconsin. But bland, boring guy appealed enough to win in 2018. Who knows, it's early. We all know incumbent Presidents go into elections with a advantage of 65-70%. For winning the primary I wouldn't be surprised if it's old boring generic guy.

A lot of people want old and boring. Althouse knows a lot of college educated white people. She tends to assume the entire D-electorate are the people she knows. But a large proportion of the D primary vote are are high school grands, not college grad, blue collar, church attenders who never, ever read the NYTimes. They like Biden so far.

Wince said...

He's gathering strength there in the abyss, deep underwater, whatever those paltry polls have to say.

My mind went immediately to Japanese Monster Movies.

Danno said...

Blogger David Begley said...No one believes these polls after 2016. Calling landlines? I get so many robocalls on my cell that I only answer it if I know the caller.

Same here. I never answer my landline, but look for messages that are important. On my cell, I only answer if I know the caller.

Kevin said...

2020 is the real Hope and Change election.

But hope is the one word which won't be uttered by any of the candidates, lest the game be given up.

Two dozen of them and not one can define their current reality.

Michael K said...

I doubt Vox will be around by the 2020 election. They are bleeding cash and laying off employees.

I have kept my CA cell number and the giveaway is the 949 area code on robocalls. The people I know (my kids) all show up by name.

I even get a Chinese speaker every other day or so.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

L'etat, c'est deep !

Earnest Prole said...

Don’t trust usage guides and the OED to get the rules right for “flat” or “bare” adverbs. As an example, imagine you’re tasked with broadcasting a baseball game, and you say, “The batter drives the ball deep . . . DEEP! . . . to center field . . . IT’S GONE!!!” The word deeply here would be deeply wrong, as any native speaker of English would know. The kind of person who would demand it is the same kind of person who would claim “go fastly not slowly” is more grammatically correct than “go fast not slow” — you know, someone from Mars.

Sam L. said...

Why should I believe VOX? Hmmmmmmmmmm. Nope; no can do!

gilbar said...

Dr K said... have kept my CA cell number and the giveaway is the 949 area code

I still have my old area code too, and it's very handy for screening calls

Michael McNeil said...

As the illimitable xkcd puts it with regard to the “Structure of a U.S. Cell Phone Number.”

BarrySanders20 said...

"There's an exception for adjectives for colors."

Deep Purple - Hush

She's got loving like quicksand
Only took one touch of her hand
To blow my mind and I'm in so deep
That I can't eat and I can't sleep

Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na
Listen hush, hush
Thought I heard her calling my name now
Hush, hush

Gospace said...

That anyone on any side is giving credence to polls right now the amazing thing.

Seeing Red said...

The Left thinks Trump is Zuckerberg. Lololol

Jim at said...

"According to Vox.

Nuff said.

bagoh20 said...

I was ambivalent, but many said that legalizing weed would lead to this kind of thing.

DavidUW said...

Biden's the old dude at the bar, you always see him there. Always talking, never really saying anything, but people still nod and knock back their drinks and chat amongst themselves while Joe occasionally butts in with something irrelevant. Not quite offensive, not your friend, but you don't get mad. You just shake your head and go back to talking with your friends.

Do people want that as president? well, weirder things have happened.

narciso said...

I think it's a tax loss for ge, good grief what Immelt did to that company,

wildswan said...

Polls should ask:
Crazy Coastie
Commie
Identity
Phony Heartland
Real Heartland Phony
[Think deeply and you will see the difference. Cliff Notes suggestion: Buttigieg, Biden]

Select in order of preference.

If they don't answer, hang up, or giggle while filling it in, mark them as Trumpies.

Gk1 said...

Surrender Dorothy!