double-edged words

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

"sanction" (n. and v.) is famously double-edged.  here's another one...

from Stephen E. Kercher, Revel with a Cause (Univ. of Chicago Press,
2006), p. 235:

Personal recollections of other satiric performers and artists active
during the early sixties abound with tales of how Kennedy family
members and administration officials patronized their work.

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this was clearly meant positively, but first time through i got the
negative 'patronizing' reading.

arnold

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