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Re: Weekly Vocab 9

From:John Cowan <jcowan@...>
Date:Tuesday, May 27, 2003, 20:07
Sally Caves scripsit:

> "Technically" was difficult. What does it even mean in English? as in this > sentence? "Theoretically? In the abstract?"
I think it means "in accordance with formal rules, but not truly". E.g. "Richard Nixon was technically a Quaker." Or, "A whale is technically a beast." (Saying "technically a mammal" seems bogus to me, as "mammal" is already a technical term in English.) The term "strictly speaking" has the same denotation as "technically", but the opposite connotative polarity: we say "technically" to denigrate what is the case by rule, but "strictly speaking" to affirm it: "Strictly speaking, a quahog is not a clam." (If y'all don't know what a quahog is, it is a New England term for an individual of _Mercenaria mercenaria_, aka the hard clam.)
> "As the sun rises" in Teonaht > expresses gnomic wisdom. As the sun rises, so does one get up, feed the > chickens, go to work, be worth something, die." Id est, common knowledge.
I think that's not quite it. By common wisdom, human beings have plenty of value (though how much depends on social class and culture, to be sure). They however are not assigned a market price (at least in non-slaveholding societies), hence are "technically not worth anything". -- I suggest you call for help, John Cowan or learn the difficult art of mud-breathing. jcowan@reutershealth.com --Great-Souled Sam http://www.ccil.org/~cowan

Replies

Joseph Fatula <fatula3@...>
Sally Caves <scaves@...>