First they came for the verbs, and I said nothing, because verbing weirds language. Then they arrival for the nouns, and I speech nothing because I no verbs.
—Richard Mitchell, the Underground Grammarian
Archives for February 2010
Richard Mitchell on verbing
24 February 2010 by Leave a Comment
J. R. R. T. on liars
24 February 2010 by Leave a Comment
Tevildo however, himself a great and skilled liar, was so deeply versed in the lies and subtleties of all the beasts and creatures that he seldom knew whether to believe what was said to him or not, and was wont to disbelieve all things save those he wished to believe true, and so was he often deceived by the more honest.
— J. R. R. Tolkien, ‘The Tale of Tinuviel’ (c. 1917)
Internet sociology
13 February 2010 by Leave a Comment
I have done a meticulous and exhaustive study, and found that 94.6% of flamewars in message boards and blog comments begin something like this:
Poster #1: X.
Poster #2: What do you mean, Q?
#1: I didn’t say Q, I said X.
#2: There you go again with Q.
#1: No, I’m telling you I said X.
#2: Q? Q?!! How DARE you say Q, you (expletives deleted)!
Poster #3: Calm down, buddy, he’s only saying K.
#2: That’s what I said . . . he’s saying Q . . . and don’t tell me to calm down!
. . . . . . .
Poster #1138: Oh, for Pete’s sake.
Dr. Johnson on intellectual vanity
2 February 2010 by Leave a Comment
Hume, and other sceptical innovators, are vain men, and will gratify themselves at any expence. Truth will not afford sufficient food to their vanity; so they have betaken themselves to errour. Truth, Sir, is a cow that will yield such people no more milk, and so they are gone to milk the bull.
—Samuel Johnson
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