Oh boy, here comes the thought/word police.
Why do I constantly do this and make myself crazy?
(Man, she doesn't even have 25 posts yet and she's stirrin' the pot)
Should I respond to this post? I don't know. Well, mebee. Naw, mebee not.
Dear MLC I remember in Roman history, a man who was nicknamed "Cunctator" because he managed to avoid combat under unfavorable conditions, but managed to conserve his resources for eventual total success. So a cunctator is merely a delayer. I practise it constantly, but it will never bring me fame. Bill
From MW:
One entry found for cunctation.
Main Entry: cunc·ta·tion
Pronunciation: "k&[ng](k)-'tA-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin cunctation-, cunctatio, from cunctari to hesitate; akin to Sanskrit sankate he wavers, Old English hangian to hang
Date: 1585
: DELAY
- cunc·ta·tive /'k&[ng](k)-"tA-tiv, -t&-tiv/ adjective
Best regards,
WaitingWayward
I know what it means guys, just wanted to know why I was hanging out wit youse guys instead of writing my lecture for Wednesday. Oh, maybe I should go to the psychiatry chat board...
Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator, Quintus (275?-203 BC), Roman statesman and general, grandson of Fabius Maximus Rullianus. He was consul in 233 BC, censor in 230, and consul again in 228, 215, 214, and 209. He was an ambassador to Carthage in 218. In 217, during the Second Punic War, he became dictator of Rome by popular acclamation; he then put into operation the tactics that won him the surname Cunctator ("Delayer"), by which he is best known. He constantly harassed the flanks of the army of the Carthaginian general Hannibal, and, by avoiding a decisive encounter with the Carthaginian invaders, gave Rome time to build its strength. This policy, although it eventually achieved its objective, gave rise to popular dissatisfaction. Minucius Rufus, commander of the cavalry under Fabius, was elevated to an equal share in the dictatorship. At the expiration of his own term, Fabius resigned as dictator. His resignation was followed by a disastrous Roman defeat at Cannae. During his fifth consulship, Fabius recovered Tarentum (modern Taranto), one of Hannibal's strongholds.
"Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator, Quintus," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
And old Verrucosus (Warty) gave his name to GBS and pals Fabian Society:
Fabian Society, British socialist educational organization that advocates social change through democratic reforms. It was founded in London in 1884 by a group of middle-class intellectuals who rejected the Marxist theory of class struggle but wished to promote equality for all through collective ownership and democratic control of the nation's resources. Believers in peaceful and gradual change, they named their group for the ancient Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator, who wore down a powerful enemy by using delaying tactics and avoiding decisive battles. In time, local Fabian societies affiliated with the parent body were founded all over Great Britain.
From the beginning, the society attracted a number of talented people who helped ensure its success. Among these were the economist Sidney Webb and his wife, sociologist Beatrice Webb; social reformer Annie Besant; dramatist George Bernard Shaw; future prime minister James Ramsay MacDonald; and novelist H. G. Wells. Shaw was a particularly effective promoter of Fabian ideas. Fabian Essays (1889), which he edited, became a classic of British socialist thought. Devoted primarily to education and social research, the Fabians never constituted themselves as a political party. However, they participated in founding the Labour Representation Committee in 1900, which later became the Labour Party, and have maintained a close connection with the party.
"Fabian Society," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
"Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator, QuintusLet's see...
So Dictator Cunctator was the son of a Rulli (or unruly) anus, and put Rufus in charge of the Hoofus before the Cunctator resigned as Dictator because of his Verrucosus veins.
Do I have that right?
Your Happy Epeolatrist!
Lots of people suffer from very coarse veins, WO'N.
Oh, thank you, Dr. Bill. I read about this in the biographies of my beloved Rupert Brooke, and your source gave me a much better understanding of what the Fabians were about than anything else I found. I think that around 1900 in England must have been a...confusing...time to live.
Dear Marylynncorder,
You knew what cunctation meant--I sure as heck didn't, so I've pasted the definition for the record, such as it is here. You know, so I'll have good study notes for the Final Exam!
When I looked at the word, all I could think was, "Does cunctation have anythin' to do with punctuation?" So go the workings of this poor brain.
Best regards,
DubDub
he then put into operation the tactics that won him the surname Cunctator ("Delayer") by which he is best known. He constantly harassed the flanks of the...(enemy)... and by avoiding a decisive encounter gave Rome time to build its strength
Ahhh, so he was the inventor or at least an early practitioner of geurrilla warfare?
Dear wow: I wouldn't call old Warty's tactics guerilla warfare, which involves very small units harrassing much larger units, always retreating, never defending their positions. Cunctator had an army almost the size of the invaders, but was smart enough not to give battle until the logistics problem weakened the invaders and strengthened him. No general worth his salt gives battle until he can see good chance of winning.
No general worth his salt gives battle until he can see good chance of winning.So ... you're implying, then, that NONE of the generals on any side in WWI was worth his salt? How despicable. They did their very best, and millions of men died to prove that it wasn't a very good best.
"... but he did for them both with his plan of attack" - Siegfried Sassoon, 1917.
Lots of people suffer from very coarse veins, WO'N.
I thought they were very close veins.
No general worth his salt gives battle until he can see good chance of winning.
Except, praps, for Lee at Gettysburg...even most of his best officers, especially Gen. Longstreet, knew that ordering Pickett's Charge (an ill-fated assault on the Union center across over a mile of open field, with the Feds holding the high ground) was futile. But you could hardly say that Gen. Robert E. Lee wasn't worth his salt.
Your Happy Epeolatrist!
Dear WO'N : Gen. R.E. Lee was justly regarded as a military genius until he ordered Pickett's charge. I am unable to comprehend how he can have made such a stupid mistake. I am mildly proud of the fact that one of my tribe, Gen. Henry Jackson Hunt, was in command of the Federal Artillery, and contributed materially to the victory by personally visiting every battery and ordering them to save ammo for that charge.
>I am unable to comprehend how he can have made such a stupid mistake.
hubris, fed by desperation, -- unless it was the other way around.
()
Especially when he knew above member of my tribe who had served under him for quite a few years in peace time, was quite possibly most competent artillerist in the war, and would never have let ammo get low with possibility of a charge. Above mentioned general is not closely enough related to me to be bragging material, but he's all I've got.
I am unable to comprehend how he can have made such a stupid mistake
Some folks think the poor state of his health may have impaired his usually sound judgement on that fateful day. He was fatigued and haunted from a bad heart that had just worsened dramatically, and which sporadically thrumped and pained his chest all through that engagement at Gettysburg. Everytime he felt his heart's sudden paroxysms he feared it could be the final explosion. But he steeled himself against it and carried on. Lived a few years after the war, too. For a fine account of this, and the battle itself, I always recommend Michael Shaara's exquisite and gripping historical novel, The Killer Angels.
Your Happy Epeolatrist!
I did regret that Lee's last few years were made even more painful for him by a Southerner who was able to prevent his having access to a large tract of land Lee owned that eventually became the huge Arlington cemetery.