Re: Weekly Vocab 9

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Cowan" <jcowan@...>

> 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.)
Well, yeah, obviously.  I meant in this sentence.

> 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".
Fair enough; I think I meant "what does it mean IN THIS SENTENCE?"  which
you have somewhat clarified.  The tag seemed meaningless to me, which is why
I wrote "as the sun rises," which should rather be an ironical remark
suggesting that "everybody knows" (wink wink wink). "As the sun rises" is
too obvious and earnest to be taken as anything but *skewed* "common
knowledge."  It is better expressed, perhaps, with "as the moon sets."  "As
the sun rises," an affirming piece of gnomic wisdom.  "As the moon sets,"
such wisdom is speculative.  But really, Teonaht doesn't have an equivalent
for this SUBTLE term "technically."  Let me go back and see what others have
done with it.

Sally Caves
scaves@frontiernet.net
Eskkoat ol ai sendran, rohsan nuehra celyil takrem bomai nakuo.
"My shadow follows me, putting strange, new roses into the world."


> --
> 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
>

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