Language Follies 17 (It is to Laugh)

I will ask you to keep reading although nothing that follows this first item can match it for hilarity.

Title of an opinion piece in the New York Times the other day:

Trump Can Win on Character

(It’s not what you might think.)

The article was by Rich Lowry of the National Review, a one-time believer in a Trump apocalypse who is now a major Trumpian brown-noser. (1) The real knee slapper of a joke is that Lowry doesn’t argue for Trump’s character; he argues that Trump should use his schoolboy name calling to smear Harris’ character. 

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OK, if you’re still here.

Is anything more inane than the song lyric “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world”? 

Then again, how about the emptiness of “You always showed me that/

Loving you was where it's at” (from “You’ve made me so very happy”)? 

Lotta crap in 1960s pop music hits.

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In the last two posts I wrote about the 1960s Family Circle scolds who produced a list for college enrollees to read. Well, lo and behold, a couple of 2024 scolds wrote an article last week for The Atlantic entitled “WHAT THE FRESHMAN CLASS NEEDS TO READ”; here’s the link (but don’t bother to read it). (2)

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I guess if you really need guidance on life, you could follow the advice of a statement I saw on the web: “Rely on Stone Island for your moral compass.” I had to look up “Stone Island” to find out who (or what) my new leader was. Turns out it’s an Italian sportswear outfit. I wonder if The Atlantic authors placed Stone Island next to Plato on the book shelves of college freshmen.

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Two weeks ago, in the middle of August 2024, the New York Times decided that the future couldn't come fast enough:

“Predicting Which M.L.B. Players Could Represent the U.S. at the 2028 Olympics”

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I will end with the Neatest Trick of the Week:

(from an email)

Good afternoon,

 

Please join us for this free ONLINE only discussion this Friday, August 16, 2024, at 4:00 PM to learn more about options for patients with cancer, as well as for survivors with lasting treatment side effects. Refreshments will be provided.

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(1) I will not link to the article, nutty as it is, but here is a link to its perfect putdown by Tom Nichols in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/08/the-conservatives-who-sold-their-souls-for-trump/679623/?utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20240826&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=The+Atlantic+Daily

(2) https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/08/what-freshman-class-ought-be-studying/679530/