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You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Wed Nov 22nd, 2006 at 09:29:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Not always.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Wed Nov 22nd, 2006 at 09:35:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Indeed.

Words and ideas I offer here may be used freely and without attribution.
by technopolitical on Wed Nov 22nd, 2006 at 02:35:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
But it is easier for me to write 'same thing' than to qualify the occasions when it would not apply, and bore myself stupid.

If a message does not get through, it is the fault of the sender, not the receiver. The sender may congratulate him/herself on having sent the perfect message, but it is what takes place in the mind of the recipient that is important. Monologue v dialogue.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Wed Nov 22nd, 2006 at 04:26:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
My point was that PRECISE language often IS concise.  

Long windedness tends to happen when one does not know what one is saying, and sort of chases it around.  

This is true for both emotional and intellectual modes.  

The Fates are kind.

by Gaianne on Wed Nov 22nd, 2006 at 08:41:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The word flashing here is "propaganda"; the deliberate use of:

1. information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.  
  1. the deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.  
  2. the particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement.  
  3. Roman Catholic Church. a. a committee of cardinals, established in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV, having supervision over foreign missions and the training of priests for these missions.  
b. a school (College of Propaganda) established by Pope Urban VIII for the education of priests for foreign missions.

Esp. No.3  You can't defeat propaganda by deciding that a word can't mean X, Y, or Z.  In Orwell's 1984, doublespeak worked because words were removed from the language.  Without the word to think the thought, there was no thought.  But if we endlessly clarify a word, or change it subtly (all words change subtly over time; etymology is fascinating--to me), or just make some up for the hoil of oot, and laugh at those who use democracy when they mean no such thing...by using it against them...

The problem is the deliberate use of words to an end by Ze Purrs Dat Be, but it seems this power is on the wane as the word has left the presses and leapt into the internet...

Well, that's the hyperbole.  If the political discussion is formed by The Sun, The Mail and [add your local examples here], then "higher" words are irrelevant as "traitor", "scum", "coward", "cheat", "liar" etc. are used as...weapons?  I've lorst the plurt!  Eek!

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.

by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Wed Nov 22nd, 2006 at 11:48:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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