Any signs of the angry crowds protesting against Trump’s legal troubles? Apparently there have fires and acts of vandalism in Storrs, CT, related to the NCAA victory. I guess these events show America’s values.
This is shaping up as a rather good week. due to our very heavy workload these past three months, the boss decreed half of us won’t need to show up Thursday, and the other half Monday. add the Friday off in the calendar, and that’s a 4 day weekend for all. On top of the much overdue arraignment.
If he’s an attorney and doesn’t know how today is going to play out, then trump showed good judgement in firing him. We know the process will proceed as it always does and trump will have some sort of public, self aggrandizing reaction.
I’m sure trump is unhappy that there won’t be cuffs and a mug shot, two fewer props for contributions.
The meaning of words can change over time, often unnoticed until a new meaning is the widely used one. For example, “literally.” It literally does not mean what people use it to indicate.
Another word that’s been changing meaning recently, or at least so it seems to me, is “enough.”
The dictionary definition in Merriam Webster is “occurring in such quantity, quality, or scope as to fully meet demands, needs, or expectations; in or to a degree or quantity that satisfies or that is sufficient or necessary for satisfaction”.
That’s pretty clear.
I don’t claim it’s reached widespread use, but here and there over the past five years I’ve heard the term misused. For example, Pence saying Russian interference has been investigated enough. Even though there was no clear picture of such interference, and even though the so-called administration he was part of meddled in such investigations.
Or take the minor covidiots in my office. At the height of the pandemic, they’d remove their masks around 6 in the evening, especially when we were working late, saying they’d worn them enough for one day. This doesn’t even make sense, aside from the ever-present risk of catching the trump virus.
More recently, some in the GQP opined, in relation to the latest gun massacre, there are enough laws regarding guns. So, how can something that is clearly insufficient (see the number of gun massacres and other killings), be deemed sufficient?
Suppose there’s a large fire, say at a warehouse complex or a factory. The fire department arrives and starts spraying water and rescuing people. After three hours, the fire rages on. Would it be right in such a case to say “there’s been enough water sprayed on the fire”?
@Kathy: Not that I disagree with you, but the simple explanation is they say “enough” because they don’t accept your framing of the question. The guns aren’t the problem, the disease isn’t that bad, etc…people say “enough” because from their POV they are done. In these examples they are denying reality and don’t understand the problem in the first place, but they understand what the word itself means.
I’m with you on “literally” though. The misuse of that term figuratively drives me bananas.
IIRC, he received his shares because he lent his imprimatur to it and the value was driven by his cult bidding up the share. Any smart money got out, but trump may have had restrictions on sale of the stock. Regardless, these are most likely paper losses, his only real risk is if he borrowed against the value of the shares and knowing what we do about his finances, that could be the real risk.
Some people seem to think that “literally” means “metaphorically.”
To be a bit of a pedant, while it’s true that people often use the word “literally” for nonliteral descriptions (“I literally exploded”), they aren’t actually using the word to mean “metaphorically.” They’re turning the word into a generic intensifier, similar to “really,” and basically ignoring the fact that their sentence contains metaphor.
@Sleeping Dog: and trump will have some sort of public, self aggrandizing reaction.
Not necessarily, the judge could put a gag order on him. Not sure how long that would work but if trump were to violate it things would only get harder for him. At the very least I expect the judge to tell trump to stfu about Bragg.
@Sleeping Dog: I’ve long puzzled over this. Trump didn’t invest any money and the shares he doesn’t get seems to have gone to a random collection of lackeys and hangers on. Who put up the money in the first place and why?
Lounsbury could best answer this, but my understanding is that the physical truth social was mostly built on credit and pay as you go, so there wasn’t a huge initial investment. Where the large investments came in, was the TS was acquired by a SPAC, Special Purpose Acquisition Company, basically a shell company that has gone through the hassle of going public. Once the SPAC acquired TS they began selling shares. Likely a percentage of the total with the rest being held by trump, the SPAC principals and other hangers on.
SPAC’s became all the rage a few years ago, because they were a shortcut to taking companies public, particularly companies with questionable futures.
@CSK:..I thought the SS agents were supposed to handle that.
If I was in charge he would have been in shackles and cuffs and an orange jump suit. But they didn’t ask me. Beside that would just give his bootlickers something else to whine about.
They’re turning the word [“literally”] into a generic intensifier, similar to “really,” and basically ignoring the fact that their sentence contains metaphor.
But, Kylopod, haven’t they just repeated a language pattern by taking a work that means “actually” and using it to intensify something in a non-actual way? After all, “real” and “literal” are damn near synonyms.
@Kathy: Of the two competing uses of “enough,” I think the second is shortening of “more than enough” much like “I could care less” is a shortening of “I could not care less.” It’s sort of like the difference (as I understand it) in Spanish of “basta” and “bastante” though I would defer to your correction.
Cripes, they don’t even have to look that far…they should ask Kelleyanne Conway’s kids what they think of her politics. Or Patti Davis, about her father’s politics. Who cares?
The problem with Spanish is that it’s essentially several different languages, depending on country and region. I’d just as soon not get into that.
I would refer to my example: has there been more than enough water sprayed on a fire that still burns? If the fire had been put out an hour ago and water were still being poured on, then yes. But that’s a different thing.
Just one thing. “Basta” is the name of a game where one has to come up with like 5 to seven words, each in a specific category. starting with the same letter. The categories are stuff like first name, animal, fruit or vegetable, movie title, color, etc. The first to complete the set stops the game by loudly proclaiming “Basta!”
But, Kylopod, haven’t they just repeated a language pattern by taking a work that means “actually” and using it to intensify something in a non-actual way? After all, “real” and “literal” are damn near synonyms.
To some extent. Adverbs like “really” and “actually” have become blunted over time; they’re borderline fillers at this point, not that far from “um” and “er.” Often you could remove them from a sentence without affecting the meaning in any important way. But I don’t know that they’ve ever had the exact meaning of “literally.” That word specifically refers to a situation where you’re using a phrase that could be interpreted as a metaphor, but might not be, and you’re signaling to the reader or listener that it isn’t. Is there any other word in English that can fill that space? Not currently. And that’s why prescriptivists are always complaining about its supposed misuse: they think we’re in danger of losing a highly useful term.
Here’s the thing, though: people have been using “literally” in that looser way for hundreds of years now, and so far it hasn’t caused the, well, literal version of “literally” to disappear. A lot of people don’t realize how effective a language can be at maintaining two separate, conflicting definitions of the same word for long periods of time. When someone says “I literally exploded,” the person isn’t ignorant of the strict definition of “literally”; they’re just choosing to disregard it at that moment. And I think that has to do with the fact that they’re not even thinking of the metaphor in the sentence. It may grate on you, but it’s not really an attempt to replace the original definition.
his only real risk is if he borrowed against the value of the shares and knowing what we do about his finances, that could be the real risk.
I think even that risk falls primarily on the lenders who took shares as collateral. Banko lawyers can correct me, but my minimal understanding is that if the asset used as collateral is worthless, the holders are SOL. If I recall, that’s what caused de gubmint to need to intervene on toxic assets in 2008. Something about banks being too big to fail.
@Kylopod: “When someone says “I literally exploded,” the person isn’t ignorant of the strict definition of “literally”; they’re just choosing to disregard it at that moment.”
About both “literally” and “exploded” it seems to me.
So, if this holds, Chicago Lefties will be chanting “Let’s Go Brandon!”. What a bad day for MAGA, their boss got clowned and they lost control of their chant.
As far as the Wisconsin Supreme Court race…..yay! She won! Lookin at you, Mu, even though I know you’re out of the whole-ass country and enjoying yourself! I expect many stories when you get back, and yes, I’d miss you if you disappeared forever. 😛
This is about the latest hour that the Forum has lacked a comment, so…
Happy Arraignment Day
@Sleeping Dog:
Joe Tacopina says he has no idea of what is going to happen. Trump apparently won’t be handcuffed or mugshot.
Any signs of the angry crowds protesting against Trump’s legal troubles? Apparently there have fires and acts of vandalism in Storrs, CT, related to the NCAA victory. I guess these events show America’s values.
@Sleeping Dog:
This is shaping up as a rather good week. due to our very heavy workload these past three months, the boss decreed half of us won’t need to show up Thursday, and the other half Monday. add the Friday off in the calendar, and that’s a 4 day weekend for all. On top of the much overdue arraignment.
It doesn’t get much better than this.
@CSK:
If he’s an attorney and doesn’t know how today is going to play out, then trump showed good judgement in firing him. We know the process will proceed as it always does and trump will have some sort of public, self aggrandizing reaction.
I’m sure trump is unhappy that there won’t be cuffs and a mug shot, two fewer props for contributions.
@Sleeping Dog:
Not exactly fired, but demoted. I guess Tacopina is acting as the front man for the other lawyers. Trump wants him on the team in some capacity.
BTW, Finland joined NATO today.
The headline says it all, but by all means read it anyway:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2023/04/03/trumps-net-worth-plunges-700-million-as-truth-social-flops/?sh=6d540a594c64
@CSK:
Funny how being in highly invested in short form social media is similar to setting greenbacks ablaze.
The meaning of words can change over time, often unnoticed until a new meaning is the widely used one. For example, “literally.” It literally does not mean what people use it to indicate.
Another word that’s been changing meaning recently, or at least so it seems to me, is “enough.”
The dictionary definition in Merriam Webster is “occurring in such quantity, quality, or scope as to fully meet demands, needs, or expectations; in or to a degree or quantity that satisfies or that is sufficient or necessary for satisfaction”.
That’s pretty clear.
I don’t claim it’s reached widespread use, but here and there over the past five years I’ve heard the term misused. For example, Pence saying Russian interference has been investigated enough. Even though there was no clear picture of such interference, and even though the so-called administration he was part of meddled in such investigations.
Or take the minor covidiots in my office. At the height of the pandemic, they’d remove their masks around 6 in the evening, especially when we were working late, saying they’d worn them enough for one day. This doesn’t even make sense, aside from the ever-present risk of catching the trump virus.
More recently, some in the GQP opined, in relation to the latest gun massacre, there are enough laws regarding guns. So, how can something that is clearly insufficient (see the number of gun massacres and other killings), be deemed sufficient?
Suppose there’s a large fire, say at a warehouse complex or a factory. The fire department arrives and starts spraying water and rescuing people. After three hours, the fire rages on. Would it be right in such a case to say “there’s been enough water sprayed on the fire”?
@Sleeping Dog:
Since Trump owns 73 million shares of TS, I don’t see how he wriggles out of this.
@Kathy: Not that I disagree with you, but the simple explanation is they say “enough” because they don’t accept your framing of the question. The guns aren’t the problem, the disease isn’t that bad, etc…people say “enough” because from their POV they are done. In these examples they are denying reality and don’t understand the problem in the first place, but they understand what the word itself means.
I’m with you on “literally” though. The misuse of that term figuratively drives me bananas.
@Just Another Ex-Republican:
Some people seem to think that “literally” means “metaphorically.”
Eleven minutes now till Trump is arraigned.
In case you care, MTG held her NY rally outside the courthouse, spoke, got drowned out by protesters, and skedaddled in an SUV.
@CSK:
I mean, charged. The arraignment is at 2:15.
@CSK:
IIRC, he received his shares because he lent his imprimatur to it and the value was driven by his cult bidding up the share. Any smart money got out, but trump may have had restrictions on sale of the stock. Regardless, these are most likely paper losses, his only real risk is if he borrowed against the value of the shares and knowing what we do about his finances, that could be the real risk.
@CSK:
To be a bit of a pedant, while it’s true that people often use the word “literally” for nonliteral descriptions (“I literally exploded”), they aren’t actually using the word to mean “metaphorically.” They’re turning the word into a generic intensifier, similar to “really,” and basically ignoring the fact that their sentence contains metaphor.
@CSK:
Several videos here: https://www.semafor.com/article/04/04/2023/marjorie-taylor-greene-leaves-trump-rally
Guess, MTG found out she wasn’t in rural GA. Big irony is that the whistles that drowned her out, were being given out by a trump supporter.
Not necessarily, the judge could put a gag order on him. Not sure how long that would work but if trump were to violate it things would only get harder for him. At the very least I expect the judge to tell trump to stfu about Bragg.
WCBS-TV is reporting that there will be no mug shot.
@Sleeping Dog: I’ve long puzzled over this. Trump didn’t invest any money and the shares he doesn’t get seems to have gone to a random collection of lackeys and hangers on. Who put up the money in the first place and why?
@Kylopod:
Sure, but it still means the opposite of how they’re using it.
@Mister Bluster:
It’s a virtual certainty there will be fake Trump mug shots being sold to his supporters. (They gotta have something to ward off the vampires.)
@MarkedMan:
Lounsbury could best answer this, but my understanding is that the physical truth social was mostly built on credit and pay as you go, so there wasn’t a huge initial investment. Where the large investments came in, was the TS was acquired by a SPAC, Special Purpose Acquisition Company, basically a shell company that has gone through the hassle of going public. Once the SPAC acquired TS they began selling shares. Likely a percentage of the total with the rest being held by trump, the SPAC principals and other hangers on.
SPAC’s became all the rage a few years ago, because they were a shortcut to taking companies public, particularly companies with questionable futures.
@Kylopod:
Trump was planning to make and sell t-shirts, mugs, and posters of those shots.
@Sleeping Dog: I don’t believe the SPAC has aquired TS yet. They keep pushing the deadline
@MarkedMan:
Then I don’t know…
A sentence that wasn’t possible to type, with any factual basis, until just now.
@CSK: Already selling them.
@Sleeping Dog: Many of the right-wingers who bought DWAC shares are severely regretting that decision.
It’s trading down ~75% from one year ago.
@Jen:
For only 47 bucks!
@Jen: Hah! 6′ 5″! That’s a new claim from this legitimately 6 foot tall guy that wears high heels disguised as regular men’s dress shoes (lifts) so he can claim 6′ 2″, then 6’3″ and now 6’5″! What a f*cking loser!
Watch what a fat man wearing a corset and high heels looks like walking down a slight ramp…
Common citizen Donald Trump didn’t look too happy as he enterd the courtroom.
Trump just entered the courtroom, silent and scowling.
@daryl and his brother darryl:
Long, long, long overdue.
@MarkedMan:
But Trump is a giant among men!
Literally and figuratively.
@Kathy:
Adolf Putin is such a great strategist. Always playing 3D chess while everybody else is playing checkers. /sarc
@Mister Bluster:..entered…
Trump had to push open the glass door leading to the courtroom door. Doesn’t his SS escort normally do that?
@CSK: A giant what? A giant pimple on the ass of America? A giant blob of snot on a NY city sidewalk? A giant dog turd in central park?
@OzarkHillbilly:
Any of those will do.
@CSK:..Doesn’t his SS escort normally do that?
Apparently he is in the custody of the New York Court Police. At least that is what the CNN talking heads are saying.
@Mister Bluster:
I thought the SS agents were supposed to handle that.
Anyway Trump pled not guilty to all 34 charges.
@CSK:
So, once again he’s lying.
it must be one of those days that end in Y which were so popular some years ago.
There should be a picture of Steven Hill on the courtroom wall.
@Kylopod:
Sort of like “exponential”.
@CSK:..I thought the SS agents were supposed to handle that.
If I was in charge he would have been in shackles and cuffs and an orange jump suit. But they didn’t ask me. Beside that would just give his bootlickers something else to whine about.
@Mister Bluster:
What I’d like to see is his solicitation emails specify all donations are to be in the form of cigarettes or prepaid debit cards.
@Mister Bluster:
I like your style.
It might be an improvement over their current whining.
@CSK:..style…
Thank you.
Retirement has allowed me to refine my deportment.
Doesn’t always work.
But, Kylopod, haven’t they just repeated a language pattern by taking a work that means “actually” and using it to intensify something in a non-actual way? After all, “real” and “literal” are damn near synonyms.
@Kathy: Of the two competing uses of “enough,” I think the second is shortening of “more than enough” much like “I could care less” is a shortening of “I could not care less.” It’s sort of like the difference (as I understand it) in Spanish of “basta” and “bastante” though I would defer to your correction.
Here is a tweet from Team Trump dated Today.
“Daughter of Judge on Trump Case Worked on Biden-Harris Campaign”
https://twitter.com/TeamTrump/status/1643288858199482368
@DK:
Putin: “I am playing 3D chess like a master!”
Finns: “Great. How about a nice little game of axe-in-the-face?”
@Mister Bluster: That’s a solid “so what?” from me.
Cripes, they don’t even have to look that far…they should ask Kelleyanne Conway’s kids what they think of her politics. Or Patti Davis, about her father’s politics. Who cares?
@Joe:
The problem with Spanish is that it’s essentially several different languages, depending on country and region. I’d just as soon not get into that.
I would refer to my example: has there been more than enough water sprayed on a fire that still burns? If the fire had been put out an hour ago and water were still being poured on, then yes. But that’s a different thing.
Just one thing. “Basta” is the name of a game where one has to come up with like 5 to seven words, each in a specific category. starting with the same letter. The categories are stuff like first name, animal, fruit or vegetable, movie title, color, etc. The first to complete the set stops the game by loudly proclaiming “Basta!”
@Joe:
To some extent. Adverbs like “really” and “actually” have become blunted over time; they’re borderline fillers at this point, not that far from “um” and “er.” Often you could remove them from a sentence without affecting the meaning in any important way. But I don’t know that they’ve ever had the exact meaning of “literally.” That word specifically refers to a situation where you’re using a phrase that could be interpreted as a metaphor, but might not be, and you’re signaling to the reader or listener that it isn’t. Is there any other word in English that can fill that space? Not currently. And that’s why prescriptivists are always complaining about its supposed misuse: they think we’re in danger of losing a highly useful term.
Here’s the thing, though: people have been using “literally” in that looser way for hundreds of years now, and so far it hasn’t caused the, well, literal version of “literally” to disappear. A lot of people don’t realize how effective a language can be at maintaining two separate, conflicting definitions of the same word for long periods of time. When someone says “I literally exploded,” the person isn’t ignorant of the strict definition of “literally”; they’re just choosing to disregard it at that moment. And I think that has to do with the fact that they’re not even thinking of the metaphor in the sentence. It may grate on you, but it’s not really an attempt to replace the original definition.
Things that test meters are called “meter provers.” (Used for calibrating custody transfer meters in my old industry (petroleum).
Which uses the word prove in the same way that exceptions test the rule – which is to say, define the limitations of the rule.
@Sleeping Dog:
I think even that risk falls primarily on the lenders who took shares as collateral. Banko lawyers can correct me, but my minimal understanding is that if the asset used as collateral is worthless, the holders are SOL. If I recall, that’s what caused de gubmint to need to intervene on toxic assets in 2008. Something about banks being too big to fail.
@Kylopod: “When someone says “I literally exploded,” the person isn’t ignorant of the strict definition of “literally”; they’re just choosing to disregard it at that moment.”
About both “literally” and “exploded” it seems to me.
So, if this holds, Chicago Lefties will be chanting “Let’s Go Brandon!”. What a bad day for MAGA, their boss got clowned and they lost control of their chant.
As far as the Wisconsin Supreme Court race…..yay! She won! Lookin at you, Mu, even though I know you’re out of the whole-ass country and enjoying yourself! I expect many stories when you get back, and yes, I’d miss you if you disappeared forever. 😛
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/wisconsin-supreme-court-election-liberals-win-majority-rcna77190