Thursday, November 29, 2007

Slang, n.

"The grunt of the human hog (Pignoramus intolerabilis) with an audible memory. The speech of one who utters with his tongue what he thinks with his ear, and feels the pride of a creator in accomplishing the feat of a parrot. A means (under Providence) of setting up as a wit without a capital of sense." (Bierce)

Grunt

2 comments:

J said...

Oh Hog Worlders are now attempting ye olde character assessment! Conservative X is vindictive, petty, gullible, violent, sadistic, opportunistic, Eeee-vil!: in short, he does not eat tofu.

The Grunts continue.

Alas, it hasn't occurred to HogWorlders that one assesses actions and human behavior, NOT some presumed character or "virtue essence" (unless, perhaps you care to join up with Aquinas and El Papa). The shallowpate political writer--a wannabe Marat, or perhaps Pat Robertson---focuses on some presumed "moral character" (which could hardly be defined, much less pointed to: where was Nixon's "moral character"? Nemo). The authentic political writer--whether Hobbes or Hegel, Marx or even HL Mencken---concerns himself with actions, events, systems, policies, the State itself.

J said...

Sludge not, lest ye be sludged.


(and as even Marxi Marx realized, the sort of Rousseau-lite liberty-dreams of the booj-wah moralist are sort of subject to historical and economic determinism. Conceptual thinking tho' is frowned upon by Barbarium Americanus, whether left or right).

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