From "Biden touts his legacy, but frustration seeps through/The president is observing the traditions of a peaceful transfer of power, but his regrets and misgivings are evident" (WaPo)(free-access link).
And back in August 2018, discussing the Charlottesville car attack, I asked "Is 'brandishing' really a sensibly journalistic word?" The arrested man, according to NPR, had been seen "brandishing a black shield." I answered my own question:
Plainly, no. To "brandish" is "To flourish, wave about (a sword, spear, dart, club, or other manual weapon) by way of threat or display, or in preparation for action" (OED). Even if it were a real shield and not a cardboard "mock up," a shield is not a weapon....
In the comments to that post, I wrote about the OED definition of the word:
[J]ust about any word that expresses something concrete can also be used figuratively. The OED has a section on "brandish" used figuratively, with examples:
1649 Milton Tenure of Kings 2 Laws which they so impotently brandish against others.a1764 R. Lloyd Familiar Lett. Rhimes in Wks. (1774) II. 78 Your eyes that brandish burning darts.1847 J. Martineau Endeavours Christian Life II. x. 163 Brandishing the threat of infliction.
Notice that the idea still needs to be that the thing that is brandished is a weapon. My observation is that a shield is not a weapon. It's the opposite. It could be repurposed as a weapon if you lifted it up and moved it with a gesture that made people feel that you were going to hit them with it, but the normal way a shield is held is the opposite of brandishing.
If they couldn't say he was threatening to hit people with his shield, they shouldn't say he was "brandishing" it. Journalists should be especially careful about using figurative language. Sometimes they are lazy about language and are just carelessly groping for different words that seem colorful. That's bad writing even if it isn't slanting in some particular direction.
In that light, think about "Trump’s brandishing of grievances" in the new WaPo article. Is Trump's display of his "grievances" regarded as a threat? Maybe!
And here's my oldest discussion of the use of "brandish," from June 2009. Andrew Sullivan had written something about "the surrealism and narcissism of the Wasilla nutcase" (AKA Sarah Palin)"
I wrote:"So brandishing a special needs infant as a campaign prop was putting your family off-limits? Pushing your own daughter into the klieglights to divert attention from your own fantastic lies is family-protective? Pushing Bristol Palin into an absurd abstinence campaign to gin up support from the Christianist right is looking after your kids? Palin reaps what she sows...."
Now, this is absurd. Nearly all politicians display their families. Do they brandish them? Brandish means to shake or wave (as a weapon) menacingly/to exhibit in an ostentatious or aggressive manner. Occasionally, one reads of some criminal swinging a baby around like a cudgel, but with politicians, the displaying of the family is non-aggressive and without any weapon connotations. Obama displayed and continues to display Sasha and Malia in the conventional political way, and I'm sure Sullivan would be steamed if anyone mocked them or said anything sexual about them....
I've just created a tag for the word "brandish." It's a power verb, so notice who's using it and why.
AND: I've gone back and added the tag "brandish (the word)" to every post in my 20-year archive where the word "brandish" appears.
There are surprisingly few, and in all but one of them, the word comes up in something I'm quoting.
Above, I discussed old posts where I noticed the word and then talked about it, and there's even one more like that:
It was June 5, 2020, and I was quoting Joe Biden: "The president [Trump] held up a Bible at St. John's Church yesterday. I just wish he opened it once in a while.... instead of brandishing it...."
I wrote:
To "brandish" is "To flourish, wave about (a sword, spear, dart, club, or other manual weapon) by way of threat or display, or in preparation for action" (OED).
"Brandish" is a key word in the Bible — Ezekiel 32:10
I will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you, when I brandish my sword before them. They shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall....
The blog archive contains 3 other appearances of "brandish," 2 of which are in quotes.
One of these is another example of dramatizing Trump. It was November 9, 2020, and I was quoting Axios: "Trump plans to hold rallies focused on the litigation [challenging the announced result of the election], and brandish obituaries of people who were recorded as voting but are dead." Brandish obituaries!
In the second one, from December 29, 2005, CNN, reporting a murder, uses "brandish" in the most basic and literal way: "She said she looked on helplessly from the corner of the room as he then killed the three girls -- Bano, 8, Sumaira, 7, and Humaira, 4 -- pausing between the slayings to brandish the bloodstained knife at his wife, warning her not to intervene or raise alarm."
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83 comments:
Brandish is a penis reference. It's an envy word.
blade of a sword, prow of a ship
He is a reckless dotard, and yes, loss of the ability to mask anger is an indicator of senility. But he always was an angry and reckless man who acted in his own self interests first.
I think it is related somehow to "blandish," in the way that cleave has opposite meanings, but I couldn't prove it.
Oh boy, grievances. Sure he survived two assassination attempts, the full weight of lawfare from the federal government, universally hostile media attacks, and open treason from legislators who really should have known better. But none of it is a legitimate complaint like BLM is, you guys!
Honest to Jesus, I have zero idea why these people ever thought President Trump SHOULD avoid punishing them, let alone a good reason for him to do so.
Where we saw genuine score settling was in the Biden Administration. Look at the unprecedented ruin of Rudy Giuliani for daring to take that laptop full of state level crimes involving sex and minors to the Delaware State Police.
Outlandish.
A shield is a weapon, just not a pointy one. It's an instrument of war carried into battle. A sword can be held defensively and a shield can bash.
feels underestimated, resentment with Obama, unfairly treated
Has Biden ever enunciated those feelings? We know that he buries his face in the hair of little girls. Does he feel pedo feelings? Or does he just like the smell of My Little Pony Chamomile Shampoo?
- Krumhorn
Any criticism of Biden must always be accompanied by a "Trump is worse" statement. (WaPo style guide)
Blandish is Japanese.
“Some historians who follow the presidency say Biden has always shown flashes of anger when he feels underestimated”
Is it even possible to underestimate Joe Biden?
The problem with Trump is that he's all brandish and no action.
Or as we say here in Texas, "all hat and no cattle."
Althouse, you deserve to be paid for your faithful service as Ombudsman for the NYT.
It takes great athletic skills to brandish while pouncing!
Let's Go Brandish!
Admen know that some things are brands, and others are only "brand-ish" or brand-adjacent.
You know it's Festivus season when grievances are being brandished, but the article gets it absolutely wrong. Trump's grievances are for the stage. They're part of the show. He'll call up Maggie Haberman or Bob Woodward. He'll flirt with Jill Biden. He feels things, remembers snubs, and likes to air his grievances in public, but he doesn't try to act on them -- or at least, he hasn't so far.
Biden has "Irish amnesia." He's forgotten everything except his grievances, and he's not above acting out of spite. He hasn't been above little furtive "I showed them" or "I fixed their wagon" comments. That's understandable, but the way he tries to hide his resentments and the way they seep out can be a little unsettling. Trump's comments are cathartic and get the resentment (or at least the bitterest part of them) out of his system. Biden seems to be bottling up resentments going back all the way to when he had to repeat second grade.
The use of historians as observers of current events is an odd approach. Logical fallacy really of utilizing supposed experts. Anyone who has followed politics for the last 40+ yrs has equal observational authority. And know exactly who Biden has shown himself to be
The sun doth shine,
The world is mine,
My bones are full of marrow;
O for a wench
That has a trench
Where I may push my barrow
-- A.D.Hope (Australian poet-laureate)
blade of a sword, prow of a ship
I see someone else looked up the etymology. I look up the origins of words fairly often, but quite often it's after reading a post here.
I feel worse for Gonzalo Lira, but yes. Expect President Trump to not merely pardon Giuliani but restore him outright.
Brandish… scorned for the one who ran.
What do you do when your brandish
And you know you’re a penis?
Biden will soon be gone, and almost nobody will ever pay attention to him again. He is a mediocrity who found an occupation where those of limited morals or intellectual capacity can succeed. Like any midwit, he has resorted to plagiarism because he has never had an actual thought. His is the anger of the unaccomplished, ever jealous that someone might receive praise for actually achieving something. He will be forgotten soon, but not soon enough.
The dog that doesn’t bark - in an article discussing Biden’s legacy there is no mention of the border, no mention of Afghanistan, and no mention culture.
Instead the focus is on things that might happen due to the Inflation Reduction Act the CHIPS Act, and the Imfrastructure Bill.
The Inflation Reduction Act will fail because the decarbonization of the economy, especially in such a short period of time without a big push for nuclear is idiotic. See what Germany is going through. Well, at least Pete Bootyplug can use his excellent implementation of charging stations to brandish his Presidential qualifications.
The CHIPS act implementation seems to be designed by HR departments.
The only thing Biden will be remembered for will be as warning to not have dementia addled men serve as President.
Perhaps a Constitutional Amendment can passed setting age limits for federally elected officials. We could call it the “Biden Amendment”.
Excellent summation. Applies to probably 90% of government employees.
When I see the word "brandish" in any Joe Biden context, I think of "Let's Go Brandon."
Yesterday, I drove past a store that had closed a couple years ago. Their sign (still) read "Let's Go Brandon".
I laughed. "Let's Go Brandon" indeed.
I'm sure that shields were invented not long after the invention of sharp pointed weapons. I'm also pretty sure that such shields were also used to inflict pain and suffering upon the enemy. Didn't some shields have their own sharp edges and protuberances? In total warfare--and most warfare ends up being total--everything is a weapon. In Ghostbusters, we saw how marshmallows given sufficient mass can be fashioned into a weapon of mass destruction.
"This is an article about Biden, his resentfulness, but Trump must be inserted,..."
Holy COW! Is water still wet? Will the sun set in the west tonight?
Do NYT readers ever acknowledge this ingrained pattern in their comments? Or does every subheading contain an unspoken what-aboutism to follow"?
Do the NYT staff even have a glimmer this is a sign post on the road to ruin? One hopes not. Perhaps a crossword only subscription would be a fitting legacy.
Biden is clearly controlled by others. That alone would make anyone angry.
Joe Biden is also a total fraud and a lying international pay to play crook - who is in fact - above the law.
That is not democracy.
Brandon-ish.
Biden is not who we are. Right O'-Clooney?
OMG, loved that show, and The Rifleman.
a week or so back I mentioned that the MSM treatment of President Trump (He really is pretty much president already, isn't he?) is one of his superpowers.
For example, he "brandished" the 25% tariff at Canada and Mexico. The MSM response was that this was a terrible thing to do. But (superpower) they also said that he was crazy enough to do it.
Schienbaum (Mexico) and Trudeau do drink their ownkoolaide and think he really is crazy enough to do it.
So they brandish all sorts of big words about how Canada will cut off oil to the US. Scheinbaum brandishes big words about how President Trump can't tell here what to do and yadda, yadda, yadda. Nobody takes them seriously. Canada is going to cut off our energy? Their biggest source of revenue? Yeah, right. BTW, Junior, if he puts a 25% tarrif, He not you, is cutting off the flow. There will be damn little left for you to cut.
In the meantime, Scheinbaum is turning back migrant caravans, raiding fentanyl distribution. Junior is visiting President Trump at MAL to explain that he will bend the knee to avoid the tariff.
Canada and Mexico brandish and the world yawns. They are sane and rational.
President Trump brandishes and gets results because he is seen as not same and rational.
There is no need for actual 25% tariffs. All we need is to brandish them to get the desired results
John Henry
I read a lot of history. It's possible for everyone to be wrong and for everyone to lose. Just one example: WWI.......There's a theory of history that teaches that there's nothing useful to be learned from the study of history. I think A J P Taylor said we should study history to learn interesting stories but there's not much use beyond that........Whether you call it original sin, the id, or the reptilian brain, it's the the literal base of humanity . We're destined to be stupid, brutish, and selfish. Nothing exemplifies this more than the Biden Presidency but Trump's not much of an exception.
" Old French brandiss-, present participle stem of brandir "to flourish (a sword)"
"Old French blandiss-, present-participle stem of blandir "to flatter, caress."
I will stick with my interpretation that it's a verb like "cleave" that has split into opposite meanings.
Perhaps an age limit would deny us the oft longed-for Great White Hope.
Joe Brandonish. Joe Biden his time to retirement. Wasnt there a TV show called "Brandish" starring Chuck conners and his waving around his broken sword?
That's Joe Biden. He's got his shoulder straps torn off, his POTUS sword broken in half, and full of resentment, he's about to be thrown out of the Fort. "Brandon. Brandon. Marked with a failures shame. What do you do when youre Brandon and you know you're a man?"
When we "trim" a Christmas tree, do we remove parts of it, or add decorations to it?
I have been observing Joe Biden for over 40 years- the man is the living and walking definition of mediocre. Now, almost all people are mediocre thus there is nothing intrinsically wrong with being so- the problem arises when a mediocre person doesn't realize it and demands to be treated as non-mediocre- that is Joe Biden.
Biden has always been a prick.
BTW, whenever the MSM talks about "Historian X says", insert the adjective "Leftwing Democrat" before "Historian. Because they all are. They wouldn't be quoted otherwise. Plus, Academia votes 90-10 Democrat. Bechloss would be presented on PBS as some sort of objective "Historian" so he could give us his pearls of wisdom, but if you look at the guys twitter feed, he's so anti-white, anti-Republican party, and Leftwing its hard for him to write the name "Trump" without exploding with rage.
I must I was suprised at what a hard-core, unethical, unpatriotic Leftist Joe Biden turned out to be. I knew he was liberal, I knew he was mediocre, I knew he was slightly corrupt and had a tendency to fib and lie. But wow, the crap he pulled as POTUS was unbelievable. Refusing to enforce the immigration laws, breaking the RR workers strike, approving of the FBI raid on Trump's residence and the DOJ's crimnial prosecutions, calling Trump supporters "Nazis", supporting genocide in Gaza and an endless bloody war in Ukraine, laughing at all the j6 being thrown in jail while Antifa and BLM protesters roamed free, etc. etc.
Without a doubt the worst POTUS ever, ever. ANd beloved by Mitt Romney and Mitch McConnell. Let that sink in.
By the time Biden leaves office, Cody Jarrett will have gone out with less spite, more dignity and less destructiveness than Joe Biden.
Made it, Ma! Top of the World!.
I wish I could find it now, but a few months ago I saw a video where the "on the street" reporters asked passers-by to tell why they supported Biden without mentioning Trump's name. None could do it.
Journalists can't mention Harris or Biden or even the Democrat party and their policy faults without mentioning Trump. During the campaign, no one could explain why they were FOR Harris or any of her accomplishments without mentioning Trump. They can't even list the crimes Biden is accused of without adding "but Trump"
The Democrats brandish the word "Trump" as if he is a weapon.
"While they are far more fleeting than Trump’s brandishing of grievances" Already covered by JAORE, but worth noting nonetheless, the but-Trump trope. Progs just can't help themselves. Nor, in their bubble, can they hear themselves. You'd think that after the election they'd have reason to, but apparently not enough.
Dissing the Trump brand is what journalists do best.
I'd say history has underestimated his talent for avoiding punishment for a career marked by rather obvious corruption, influence peddling, and Pay to Play.
"Brandishing" a firearm is a crime. I would suppose the word is used here to bring "criminal" to mind regarding Trump. Ho hum. It must be a day ending in "y" again for a Trump opponent to toss out a smear.
As to Biden, some folks with dementia become angry due to the confusion and loss of cognition, others become happier for the same reason. I guess we see where Dementia Joe is going. Too soon for pity, too late for forgiveness, is his problem.
Someone should collect these journalist swipes at Trump in book form or website form.
What will the Biden Presidential Library hold? What will be its exhibits, a display of bags and sacks? I can see prospective donors getting the letters soliciting donations - but they'll have been sent by simple functionaries, with Joe's scrawl stamped at the bottom. Joe won't have any other connection to them. They'll read it and ask themselves, "Biden Presidential Library ? What for ?"
Brandon's resentments are only fleeting, says the author who immediately cites one (against Obama) that is 16 years old. Odd definition of "fleeting."
Let's go Brandish!
In the Captain America comic books (created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby), his shield (more so after he was reintroduced into the modern age in Avengers #4) was made into a weapon. I believe Tony Stark (Iron Man) created a new one made of titanium and it would return to Cap if thrown in a certain way -- after knocking the bejesus out of the evil character.
I'm waiting for the first use of "brandish" and "without evidence" in the same sentence.
YouTube: Now say Nuclear Wessels
Trump always brandishes his cudgel-like rhetoric to bombard his enemies in a blitzkrieg of fibble-fable nonsense.
Brandish goes with bravado. It implies an impotent display rather than cold menace. Brandish cancels courage and determination. Brandish goes with Saddam dancing in the Baghdad streets with a gold-plated AKM promising “the Mother of All Battles”, and finishing in a hole with a supply of candy bars.
The subject this morning is not yourself, Third Coast.
We can expect to see a lot of passive aggression versus the Bad Orange Man from the dogs in the punditry and press. Ankle biters all. But the dogs bark and the caravan moves on.
Is it true that many NYT and WaPo writers are graduates of the Deolali school of journalism?
The true cost and damage that Biden did to the US will never be calculated. It is truly shocking to me that millions of people don’t realize it.
That's Hedley.
"So yeah, I can see him being resentful.'"
What?
I, we, should be super-resentful that this nothing got into the US Senate simply because there was no one else around in the 1971-1972 DE D machine. And then proceed to exploit his elected position to enrich himself, This guy is nothing but dreck, from stem to stern.
I would submit that Biden has always shown flashes of resentment when he is correctly estimated.
The Democrat party has paid, once, for foisting this shelf item on the Republic, but if there were any justice, and there isn't, they would be punished for several election cycles.
Anyone who ever saw him as anything other than a buffoon should never be allowed to voice an opinion about politics. While it's true that the buffoonish exterior was a facade covering the venal thug beneath, it's understandable that most people couldn't see that as the MSM carried the water for Joe (affable, my ass) just as they have carried for Democrats since FDR. The MSM like the Democrats (but I repeat myself) have a lot to answer for. They have brought us to the brink of WWIII with a rutabaga as commander in chief.
Stop with the italics please! If you don't know how to turn them off, don't turn them on!
Ugh! I can't even turn them off
There. Finally.
I just came here to say that it would take a feat of strength worthy of a Festivus champion to underestimate Joe Biden.
Didn't Obama warn us never to underestimate Biden's ability to something-something up?
I've sometimes had to do it twice.
Apparently he forgot that when he picked him as VP and then anointed him the nominee in 2020. So what does that say about Obama's judgment?
Obama, too. Clinton is infamous for fracturing glass ceilings. Generally, liberals have demonstrated extreme em-pathetic responses to moderation. But I'm progressive is a byline.
At tthe entrance to the beiden library you wont see a plastic box for you to put dollar bills in, there will be a cardboard cutout of hunter holding a bag.
Obama's judgment was spot on, particularly when you consider that Obama's main goal seems to be to f**k America up.
I wonder how many decades the comparison of future presidents with Trump will continue. For good or bad "compared to Trump" will be around for a long time.
"Flashes of anger" is an overly polite way of saying that this person has a really short fuse.
As for Trump, he was treated so badly by the media I think that he's entitled to airing a lot of grievences.
I wonder how many copies of The Art of the Deal can $15 million buy for the Trump library?
BTW, if you do a Google search for "brandishing a...", the first hit is "brandishing a weapon."
Biden is the only the Fredo Corleone of American politics.
“ It ain't the way I wanted it! I can handle things! I'm smart! Not like everybody says... like dumb... I'm smart and I want respect!”
The worst thing Obama did was naming the absolute moron Biden as his VP. But for that, Biden would never have been President and we would have been spared this disgraceful piece of shit.
I think beiden has been our first truly insane president. Greedy, criminal, yes, but also insane.
He's a hard man to overestimate except when it comes to his hate and pettiness. But it does explain why he is angry all the time.
Biden has 36 more days, to destroy America (and the Entire World)..
Can HE??
WILL HE?
Don't bet against it!
Never Underestimate Joe's ability to F*CK things up
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