I heard the President say something about how he could "unequivocably stand here and say that lobbyists are not a part of my administration". As a student of the English language as well as several others, I can understand how he can say this and completely mean every word he said. However, I also know that he does not mean what he wants you to think it means.
Most other languages I know use word order for emphasis. In English, the position of the word matters too, and since English comes from French, Latin, German, and a slieu of other dialectics throughout time, some of those rules can be manipulated to reflect correct English grammar with hidden meaning. The President wants you to think that "unequivocably" refers to the presence of lobbyists in his administration. That is neither true nor what he actually said.
Although adverbs can go anywhere in a sentence, correct grammar rules require that they be placed as close as possible to the words they modify. As such, unequivocably modifies the word that immediately follows it. Simple analysis of the antecedant demonstrates that the President told us the truth, that he will "unequivocably stand", or stand there without moving. Duh. That is not what most people will read. They will read that the President denies that Lobbyists exert influence in his campaign. He neither said that nor meant it.
English is a tough language. Back in October of last year, I first said this:
Most other languages I know use word order for emphasis. In English, the position of the word matters too, and since English comes from French, Latin, German, and a slieu of other dialectics throughout time, some of those rules can be manipulated to reflect correct English grammar with hidden meaning. The President wants you to think that "unequivocably" refers to the presence of lobbyists in his administration. That is neither true nor what he actually said.
Although adverbs can go anywhere in a sentence, correct grammar rules require that they be placed as close as possible to the words they modify. As such, unequivocably modifies the word that immediately follows it. Simple analysis of the antecedant demonstrates that the President told us the truth, that he will "unequivocably stand", or stand there without moving. Duh. That is not what most people will read. They will read that the President denies that Lobbyists exert influence in his campaign. He neither said that nor meant it.
English is a tough language. Back in October of last year, I first said this:
English is one of the worst languages in which to communicate because it obfuscates meaning, omits detail, ensnares the senses, misleads the mind, and expresses nearly enough to any number of putative interpretations that you can say almost anything and mean either everything or nothing at all depending on how recipients take it.
In English, there is an exception to every rule, except this one. English is as close to the language of Babel as anything spoken on earth, and although I won't get into dialectics, I could show you a myriad of things that people commonly say with which I get annoyed because they don't mean what the speaker intends. Just the other day I said to my sister "Don't you look nice today." What I meant was that I thought she looked nice, so I went back and corrected it without the confusion of that negative modifier; what I technically said and to which she originally blushed was that I thought she did not look nice, the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of what I meant.
What people don't say is just as important as what they do say. The President stands there unequivocably. Good for him.
**Although communication is not his forte, the author has a width and bredth of experience beyond that of the more common parlance. The author attended school for two years in Oxfordshire England. The author also reads a lot of old documents written in prose and with rhetoric that is accurate albeit uncommonly used in the United States. The author speaks several languages fluently and several besides that with some degree of competancy. He also catches himself in and corrects common errors as often as possible.**
What people don't say is just as important as what they do say. The President stands there unequivocably. Good for him.
**Although communication is not his forte, the author has a width and bredth of experience beyond that of the more common parlance. The author attended school for two years in Oxfordshire England. The author also reads a lot of old documents written in prose and with rhetoric that is accurate albeit uncommonly used in the United States. The author speaks several languages fluently and several besides that with some degree of competancy. He also catches himself in and corrects common errors as often as possible.**
2 comments:
But your two years of school in England were when you were 5 and 6. You are inferring that it was at a more advanced stage of schooling. Ergo, even you are misleading the reader through your statement. Does that mean I can't trust anything you say either?
Yeah, that's the logical conclusion to draw of course that you can't trust me.
If you feel that way, a public forum is not the place to bring it up.
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