Language Usage can be Strange

What did you say? And what did you mean by it?

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aloysius
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Language Usage can be Strange

Post by aloysius »

Definitions first:

is ~ the third person singular presnt indicative of the verb be

be ~ to exist in actuality; have reality or life

How odd then, to say, "He is dead."
Thundril
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Re: Language Usage can be Strange

Post by Thundril »

aloysius wrote:Definitions first:

is ~ the third person singular presnt indicative of the verb be

be ~ to exist in actuality; have reality or life

How odd then, to say, "He is dead."
Exactly! Check this out!
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Arising_uk
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Re: Language Usage can be Strange

Post by Arising_uk »

In parts of my country and in the past "He be dead" is acceptable.
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John
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Re: Language Usage can be Strange

Post by John »

Arising_uk wrote:In parts of my country and in the past "He be dead" is acceptable.
I think you might still get away with it in Last of the Summer Wine.
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Arising_uk
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Re: Language Usage can be Strange

Post by Arising_uk »

:) Oo! Arr!!
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Rortabend
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Re: Language Usage can be Strange

Post by Rortabend »

Pirates say "He be dead".
chaz wyman
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Re: Language Usage can be Strange

Post by chaz wyman »

aloysius wrote:Definitions first:

is ~ the third person singular presnt indicative of the verb be

be ~ to exist in actuality; have reality or life

How odd then, to say, "He is dead."
THe question is, does language affect the way we think about the reality of life? Is the fact that we tend to suggest a state of existence to "being" dead, make us avoid the real problem of ceasing to be? Does it encourage thought of an afterlife- a passing over, a passing away, rather than a full termination.
Or is it the case that because we tend to believe in an afterlife that we allow such wooly thinking to effect our language?

It is very much the same question you can ask when people use "WHY" when "HOW" is more appropriate to ask scientific questions; when the "why" asserts intentionality in nature.
chaz wyman
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Re: Language Usage can be Strange

Post by chaz wyman »

shmell wrote:
aloysius wrote:Definitions first:

is ~ the third person singular presnt indicative of the verb be

be ~ to exist in actuality; have reality or life

How odd then, to say, "He is dead."
Isn't death real? You can paraphrase it in "He exists in a state of death"
You can say that death is a thing that happened. But the whole point of death is that it is definable as the cessation , the termination of the existence of a person, so no there is no existence in death.
Steve_Reilly
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Re: Language Usage can be Strange

Post by Steve_Reilly »

But you've simply taken one of the many definitions of "be" and applied it where it doesn't belong. Another definition from Merriam-Webster is "to have a specified qualification or characterization". So there's nothing weird about saying "He is dead".
aloysius
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Re: Language Usage can be Strange

Post by aloysius »

How can you "have" anything when you don't exist, as in death?
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The Voice of Time
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Re: Language Usage can be Strange

Post by The Voice of Time »

aloysius wrote:Definitions first:

is ~ the third person singular presnt indicative of the verb be

be ~ to exist in actuality; have reality or life

How odd then, to say, "He is dead."
Yes but "concepts" can be "alive". The word is a metaphor.
Impenitent
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Re: Language Usage can be Strange

Post by Impenitent »

language is double plus good

-Imp
chaz wyman
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Re: Language Usage can be Strange

Post by chaz wyman »

Impenitent wrote:language is double plus good

-Imp
No it is not. It is triple plus excellent, with meritorious extras.
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