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Re: The things one finds

From:Ed Heil <edheil@...>
Date:Monday, July 26, 1999, 5:48
I apologize for that then.  I was speaking somewhat, um, what's the
word... not quite "hyperbolically," but perhaps "over-grandiosely"?

In any case, I was kind of rhetorically cutting loose and letting the
facts fall by the wayside.  I'm sorry.


Ed Heil ------------------------------- edheil@postmark.net
"Facts are meaningless! You can use facts to prove anything
   that's even _remotely_ true!"           -- Homer Simpson

Matt Pearson wrote:

> Ed Heil wrote: > > > Well, Matt, if the shoe don't fit, don't wear it. > > > > It sure fits Chomsky himself, who was the only person I mentioned in > > the post that bothered you. > > I guess I was confused by your use of the phrase "the vast majority > of mainstream academic linguists", which seems to embrace a larger > portion of the field than just Chomsky himself. Besides which, the > name Chomsky is frequently used as a cover term for generative > linguistics, or principles-&-parameters/minimalist theory in general, > as if his work were necessarily representative of the field (I don't > think it is, personally). When I spoke of stereotyping, this is > precisely > what I meant - taking Chomsky's theoretical and methodological > shortcomings (real or imagined) and attributing them to "the vast > majority of mainstream academic linguists". > > Matt. >