discover

[Dan Goncharoff]

I think "discover" is an odd word to use regarding citizenship. It
implies the person did not know they were not citizens.

I believe the word was used to maintain the argument that any
non-citizen who voted, and signed a statement affirming citizenship to
do so, was simply mistaken, and did not intend to break the law.

DanG

On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 1:00 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: discover
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Shouldn't it be "and when you discovered"?  "Discover" sounds fine to me;
> "found" would also work, but perhaps it was avoided for sounding a bit too
> dramatic.  Or maybe not.
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 12:37 PM, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: discover
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>        Context suggests that the last line of the excerpt should say
>> something like "vote, and when you discovered that you were ineligible
>> to vote because you were not a United States Citizen."  The text clearly
>> is garbled as quoted (by Fox News, not by Victor, who reproduced their
>> version accurately); in the quoted form, it seems to say that the
>> immigrant discovered he was not a U.S. citizen, then rushed out to
>> register to vote.  I don't think an unusual meaning of "discovered" is
>> intended.
>>
>>
>> John Baker
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
>> Of Victor Steinbok
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 12:18 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: discover
>>
>>
>>  I am not sure what to file this under. And I am not interested in the
>> discussion of politics of the issue in the article. What attracted my
>> attention was the phrasing.
>>
>> Here is an excerpt from the DHS letter cited in the article:
>>
>> http://bit.ly/c2yQz3
>> > "Submit ... evidence that you have been removed from the roll of
>> > registered voters. This can be accomplished by contacting your local
>> > election commission where you registered and voted. Submit a letter of
>> > explanation of why you registered to vote, and where you registered to
>> > vote, when you discovered that you were not a United States Citizen."
>>
>> This sounds like a cross-examination in a Three Stooges court: "So, when
>> did you discover that you're human, Dr. Fine?"
>>
>> In what sense is "discover" the right word here?
>>
>> VS-)
>>
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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