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Joined: Aug 2002
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Just read the following exchange in a comic: "Sugar is the only "su" word with the "sh" sound!" "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah." "Are you sure?" "I'm sure."  Unfortunately I had to read it twice to catch it, but it has been a long day.
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 133
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 133 |
Reminds me of the English prof telling his class,
"In English, a double negative makes a positive, but a double positive does not make a negative."
From the back row--"Yeah, right."
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
veteran
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veteran
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Reminds me of the English prof telling his classThe professor was one of philosophy, his name was J L Austin (1911-60), and he was delivering a talk in the US at Columbia. The man in the back row was Sidney Morgenbesser (1921-2004), and he just died recently. Even funnier when you know who said it first ... I've usually heard it as "Yeah, yeah". http://www.crookedtimber.org/archives/002271.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Morgenbesserhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._L._AustinAustin's book, How to do Things with Words, is a classic and quite easy to read. It deals with speech acts, and influenced John Searle in his work on same.
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
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That's great, jheem! You're a veritable Cecil; nay, a veritable Snopes! I'd always thought it was a made-up story to illustrate a point. Thanks.
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 86
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Sep 2004
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these puns will Puyallup until my mind is Choctaw upNow I know why native americans often say: "The only good Indian pun is a dead Indian pun."
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Joined: Mar 2004
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Wow, jheem! What a neat thing to know! I, too, would never have been sure the story wasn't just a story.
The "Yeah, right" in the version I read would be an update to current slang. Either phrase works.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,541 Likes: 1
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
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"...a moment of dubiety about the “double positive” tale (despite having passed it along myself)...I’ve seen the hapless speaker described as variously Austin, a law professor, and a hapless graduate student..." -- from your Crookedtimber URL above
When I heard the story the speaker was supposed to have been Isaac Asimov. FWIW.
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Joined: Jan 2004
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veteran
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attributions are always suspect
Yes, they are. As are all assertions, or texts. It's just that so many people say this about Morgenbesser that I thought I'd mention it. It's like the fire-poker-shaking incident between Austin and Wittgenstein, obscure but tantalizing. Of course, eye witnesses to that event abound. But if the Morgenbesser event has crossed over into folklore, doesn't invalidate it. OTOH, because it's attached to famous names doesn't validate it either. Ah, well.
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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yes; and wasn't the fire-poker-shaking incident between *Popper and Wittgenstein?!
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Joined: Jan 2004
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veteran
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veteran
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and wasn't the fire-poker-shaking incident between *Popper and Wittgenstein?!
Yes, it was. Right you are. I get Popper and Austin mixed up. (Their senses of humor confused me here.) And Ludwig was the one brandishing said poker.
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