public spiritedness

[Garson O'Toole]

Here is a1907 citation that contrasts "egoism to public-spirited sacrifice."

Cite: 1907, The Life of Goethe by Albert Bielschowsky; authorised
translation from the German by William A. Cooper, Volume 2 of 3, Page
304, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London.

Thus the poet thoughtfully touches upon the wise concatenation by
means of which our souls are transported from egoism to
public-spirited sacrifice.

http://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89005499470

On Fri, May 6, 2011 at 1:16 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: public spiritedness
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I think the change (if there really has been one, which I think arguable)
> has most to do with the connotations of "spiritedness."
>
> "Spirit" today usually means energy and enthusiasm (team spirit) more than
> it does intelligent consideration.
>
> JL
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, May 6, 2011 at 12:25 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: public spiritedness
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> What might have changed is the parsing of the entire phrase. What he says
>> i=
>> t
>> used to be is "having the spirit of/for the public [good]". Now it is
>> "bein=
>> g
>> spirited in public" because it resembles "public drunkenness". A simple
>> hyphen would fix this.
>>
>> VS-)
>>
>>
>> On Fri, May 6, 2011 at 11:41 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >
>> > In a NYTimes Op-Ed piece dated May 5, 2011, David Brooks writes the
>> > following:
>> >
>> > "The first citizens of this country erected institutions to protect
>> > themselves from their own shortcomings. We=92re familiar with some of
>> > them: the system of checks and balances, the Senate, etc. More
>> > important, they believed, was public spiritedness =97 a system of habits
>> > and attitudes that would check egotism and self-indulgence.
>> >
>> > As Kristol points out in the essay, the meaning of the phrase =93public
>> > spiritedness=94 has flipped since the 18th century. Now we think a
>> > public-spirited person is somebody with passionate opinions about
>> > public matters, one who signs petitions and becomes an activist for a
>> > cause."
>> >
>> > Is he correct about the change in meaning of =93public spiritedness=94
>>  > over time? Any idea when and why it changed?
>> >
>> > Thanks
>> > DanG
>>
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>
>
> --
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