Re: Re : Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
| From: | Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, October 22, 1999, 19:22 |
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Paul Bennett wrote:
> The phrase "big brother is ungood" was IIRC an oxymoron, thanks to
> this kind of semantic delineation.
Only in as much as "God is evil" would be an oxymoron to us.
But, that semantic precision comes into play elsewhere. As the appendix
to 1984 says, one could say "All mans are equal", but, tho grammatical,
it would be obvious nonsense, as if one were to say "All men are
redheaded" in English. "Equal" can only mean "identical", that is, "All
mans are equal" would mean that all men were of equal height, weight,
strength, intelligence, etc., an obvious falsity.
--
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