Comments on: The Speech of Work and the Work of Speech http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2009/05/the-speech-of-work-and-the-work-of-speech/ Place. Limits. Liberty. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:09:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: James Matthew Wilson http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2009/05/the-speech-of-work-and-the-work-of-speech/#comment-2512 James Matthew Wilson Mon, 11 May 2009 18:32:45 +0000 http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/?p=3111#comment-2512 Fair enough. It is an ugly word. I concur in avoiding the techno-neologisms. How ugly. I further agree with abstaining from Facebook until that strange artifact has properly conformed with a modern American sense of equity. Until all asses are treated with the respect of faces, our society will have failed to live up to its promise -- as you say -- to pretend that all men have been created equal. How curious that so many people believe that all men are created equal, and yet, present someone with the premise, "all asses are created equal" and he will vehemently deny it, unless, of course, he knows already that he is the biggest ass. I'm talking about domesticated farm animals, incidentally. Fair enough. It is an ugly word.

I concur in avoiding the techno-neologisms. How ugly.

I further agree with abstaining from Facebook until that strange artifact has properly conformed with a modern American sense of equity. Until all asses are treated with the respect of faces, our society will have failed to live up to its promise — as you say — to pretend that all men have been created equal. How curious that so many people believe that all men are created equal, and yet, present someone with the premise, “all asses are created equal” and he will vehemently deny it, unless, of course, he knows already that he is the biggest ass.

I’m talking about domesticated farm animals, incidentally.

]]> By: D.W. Sabin http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2009/05/the-speech-of-work-and-the-work-of-speech/#comment-2509 D.W. Sabin Mon, 11 May 2009 18:21:38 +0000 http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/?p=3111#comment-2509 Wilson, Though chary of some forms of media vocab....snark hits paydirt for me because it is one of those words that actually sounds pejorative, a repulsive sounding word for repulsive behavior. It sounds like the call of a malign bird, chattering about the low hanging branches and It verily defines the average movie reviewer who thinks it their role in life to drip sarcasm in a kind of dimbulb haiku of conventionality. I do promise, however, to neither "Twitter", nor join Facebook, until they have a Division called "Assbook". Wilson, Though chary of some forms of media vocab….snark hits paydirt for me because it is one of those words that actually sounds pejorative, a repulsive sounding word for repulsive behavior. It sounds like the call of a malign bird, chattering about the low hanging branches and It verily defines the average movie reviewer who thinks it their role in life to drip sarcasm in a kind of dimbulb haiku of conventionality. I do promise, however, to neither “Twitter”, nor join Facebook, until they have a Division called “Assbook”.

]]> By: James Matthew Wilson http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2009/05/the-speech-of-work-and-the-work-of-speech/#comment-2494 James Matthew Wilson Mon, 11 May 2009 17:06:08 +0000 http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/?p=3111#comment-2494 D.W., your last comment inspires a question. Has "snark" been promoted from the land of grunts to the condign vocabulary of the Front Porch elect? I vote, no! D.W., your last comment inspires a question. Has “snark” been promoted from the land of grunts to the condign vocabulary of the Front Porch elect? I vote, no!

]]> By: D.W. Sabin http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2009/05/the-speech-of-work-and-the-work-of-speech/#comment-2492 D.W. Sabin Mon, 11 May 2009 16:59:42 +0000 http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/?p=3111#comment-2492 Esmerelda, You undersell yourself. The fact that you show up and enter the fray is a productive eloquence all its own. You also possess that fundamental bookend of eloquence...an ability to assert but also to listen and show respect for those you do not agree with........something wholly at variance with the current atmosphere of hit and run snark. Esmerelda,
You undersell yourself. The fact that you show up and enter the fray is a productive eloquence all its own.

You also possess that fundamental bookend of eloquence…an ability to assert but also to listen and show respect for those you do not agree with……..something wholly at variance with the current atmosphere of hit and run snark.

]]> By: Esmeralda_Pearl http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2009/05/the-speech-of-work-and-the-work-of-speech/#comment-2425 Esmeralda_Pearl Sun, 10 May 2009 19:53:53 +0000 http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/?p=3111#comment-2425 Mr Wilson, thank you. :) "clutter" sums up our modern society. <blockquote>"Truncated sentences interspersed with grunts are a means to an end and speaking is merely sufficient..rather than elevated to a craft that evokes both discipline and artful expression" --D.W. Sabin</blockquote> D.W., I have never been eloquent, in writing or in speech. Please know that I appreciate reading your words and those of the other authors at this site. I enjoy and appreciate <i>"an arcane or unusual word"</i>. Thankfully, the internet has allowed forums such as Front Porch Republic, The American Conservative, Taki Mag and Chronicles to exist with an almost limitless readership. :) Mr Wilson, thank you. :) “clutter” sums up our modern society.

“Truncated sentences interspersed with grunts are a means to an end and speaking is merely sufficient..rather than elevated to a craft that evokes both discipline and artful expression” –D.W. Sabin

D.W., I have never been eloquent, in writing or in speech. Please know that I appreciate reading your words and those of the other authors at this site. I enjoy and appreciate “an arcane or unusual word”. Thankfully, the internet has allowed forums such as Front Porch Republic, The American Conservative, Taki Mag and Chronicles to exist with an almost limitless readership. :)

]]> By: D.W. Sabin http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2009/05/the-speech-of-work-and-the-work-of-speech/#comment-2363 D.W. Sabin Fri, 08 May 2009 17:29:05 +0000 http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/?p=3111#comment-2363 ...."he does not merely live upon the earth but enters into its rhythms". Well said. Despite the high percentage of schooled people in the U.S. , there is a kind of creeping functional illiteracy afoot. Truncated sentences interspersed with grunts are a means to an end and speaking is merely sufficient.....rather than elevated to a craft that evokes both discipline and artful expression. Anyone attempting to utilize an arcane or unusual word for it's very precise descriptive power is deemed a crank or braggart. Discursive fads abound in a language of slogans. One of the great pleasures of the English language is it's layering and polyglot nature and here in this country, where the polyglot was most unleashed, it is becoming deracinated and well on the road to mere gruntery. ….”he does not merely live upon the earth but enters into its rhythms”. Well said. Despite the high percentage of schooled people in the U.S. , there is a kind of creeping functional illiteracy afoot. Truncated sentences interspersed with grunts are a means to an end and speaking is merely sufficient…..rather than elevated to a craft that evokes both discipline and artful expression. Anyone attempting to utilize an arcane or unusual word for it’s very precise descriptive power is deemed a crank or braggart. Discursive fads abound in a language of slogans. One of the great pleasures of the English language is it’s layering and polyglot nature and here in this country, where the polyglot was most unleashed, it is becoming deracinated and well on the road to mere gruntery.

]]> By: Weasly Pilgrimage http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2009/05/the-speech-of-work-and-the-work-of-speech/#comment-2351 Weasly Pilgrimage Fri, 08 May 2009 13:18:01 +0000 http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/?p=3111#comment-2351 <strong>Words Mean Things Redux...</strong> At the risk of being labeled an FPR fanboy, I must highlight James Matthew Wilson’s post The Speech of Work and the Work of Speech. His thoughts in some ways start in a similar place as mine did in my own post Words Mean Things. Wilson says: One ma... Words Mean Things Redux…

At the risk of being labeled an FPR fanboy, I must highlight James Matthew Wilson’s post The Speech of Work and the Work of Speech. His thoughts in some ways start in a similar place as mine did in my own post Words Mean Things. Wilson says:
One ma…

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