R.I.P. - William F. Buckley, Jr. 11/25/1925 - 2/27/2008

[BenBurch]

Just heard on the radio.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/27/obit.buckley.ap/index.html

[bigred]

I feel sorry for his family and friends, but beyond that, to be honest this gets a yawn from me, esp as I cannot stand people using $10 words when a 50 cent one would've done just fine...and he was the poster child for this.

OK cue the lame jokes using fancy words :rolleyes:

[BenBurch]

Sometimes though the $10 words sound a lot better. There is something to be said for how the language sounds.

[Brown]

Here's Buckley's epitaph: My condescending non sequiturs have lapsed.

[Kopji]

propel propel propel your craft
gently down the effluent
ecstatically esthetically erratically exuberantly
existence is merely an illusion

[Achán hiNidráne]

Sometimes though the $10 words sound a lot better. There is something to be said for how the language sounds.

And look what we have to show for that mentality: Widespread NASCAR fandom, the Bush Administration, and people who think "ain't" is an actual word.

[BenBurch]

And look what we have to show for that mentality: Widespread NASCAR fandom, the Bush Administration, and people who think "ain't" is an actual word.

I don't think you can defend a causal relationship there.

[bigred]

go figure -

[Complexity]

And look what we have to show for that mentality: Widespread NASCAR fandom, the Bush Administration, and people who think "ain't" is an actual word.


I like "ain't". One of the dictionary writers / educators (can't care enough to look up which one) didn't, and it became shunned by the types of people who believe in types of people. He's dead now and his opinions, overrated at the time, aren't interesting to me.

The alternative contraction, "amn't", truly sucks.

I ain't using amn't.

I do hate NASCAR and Bush and the fans of either or both, of course.

[shadron]

Sometimes though the $10 words sound a lot better. There is something to be said for how the language sounds.

Also, there's something to be said for precision. Control of idiom and nuance in speech can be important, particularly when tying to persuade or instruct.

[Nucular]

propel propel propel your craft
gently down the effluent
ecstatically esthetically erratically exuberantly
existence is merely an illusion



Scintillate, scintillate, global vivivic;
In vain could I fathom thy nature specific.
Loftily poised in the ether capacious -
Strongly resembling a gem, carbonaceous.
Scintillate, scintillate, global vivivic,
In vain could I fathom thy nature specific.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

And look what we have to show for that mentality: Widespread NASCAR fandom, the Bush Administration, and people who think "ain't" is an actual word.

"Ain't" is a word, and has been for quite some time. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ain't

[Irony]

And look what we have to show for that mentality: Widespread NASCAR fandom, the Bush Administration, and people who think "ain't" is an actual word.

There's nothing wrong with using uncommon words when a common one isn't precise enough to accurately convey your thoughts, but using them to deliberately obfuscate the meaning of a sentence and confuse those you are speaking to is simply a way to appear erudite (as he was often called) while acting childish.

[bigred]

what he said. I aint' repeatin it.

[Tricky]

Buckley was a conservative I respected, though I rarely agreed with him. His arguments were rarely specious and were often quite interesting. Where are the smart conservatives to replace him? Is it just a wasteland of Limbaugh and Coulter out there these days?

[Kopji]

Humm, once the foundation of the Truth is laid there is no need to rebuild it. :D