American exceptionalizm?

Dan Goncharoff thegonch at GMAIL.COM
Wed Feb 22 17:38:39 UTC 2012


That's how I read Jefferson's term "empire of liberty" in contrast to the
monarchies of Europe and its territories.
DanG


On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 12:20 PM, Tom Zurinskas <truespel at hotmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: American exceptionalizm?
>
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>
> from thefreedictionary.com - It reads like it means an attitude of
> "American pompousness"
>
> exceptionalism [ɪkˈsɛpʃənəlɪzm] n
> (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) an attitude to other countries,
> cultures, etc. based on the idea of being quite distinct from, and often
> superior to, them in vital ways
>
>
> The phonetics shows ~ik but the voices say ~ek. I'd say in US it's ~ek.
> Many dictionaries have ~ik for words starting with "ex" and I don't think
> it's right for US dialect. Short e is what's seen and also said, making it
> consistent with the spelling.
>
>
> Tom Zurinskas, Conn 20 yrs, Tenn 3, NJ 33, now Fl 9.
> See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:02:00 -0500
> > From: thegonch at GMAIL.COM
> > Subject: Re: American exceptionalizm?
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >
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> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject: Re: American exceptionalizm?
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Doesn't the phrase go back to Frederick Turner? GB only gives an unclear
> > snippet, but I vaguely recall it.
> > DanG
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 11:48 AM, Jonathan Lighter
> > <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
> >
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> > > Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject: Re: American exceptionalizm?
> > >
> > >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > If Commies feared it, it must be good, Also, since they were
> materialists,
> > > it must be real.
> > >
> > > QED.
> > >
> > > Nuances ad lib.
> > >
> > > I can recall grad-student lefties of the '80s denouncing the "myth of
> > > American exceptionalism" in the current sense of "American moral,
> > > intellectual, ideological, theological, cultural, and political
> superiority
> > > to all." (I think that's when it became popular - "Shining City on the
> > > Hill," blah, blah, blah, blah, blah....)
> > >
> > > Historians, as I understand it, use the phrase to encapsulate the idea
> that
> > > U.S. history (successful, long-shot revolution against the top world
> power,
> > > democratic constitution framed by political philosophers, big
> > > contradiction/hypocrisy/sin of chattel slavery, westward push, Civil
> War,
> > > robber barons, business growth, world wars and superpower prominence)
> > > really does make the U.S. different from, say, tiny Albania.
> > >
> > > However, the historians' concept often subsumes the public faith in the
> > > excellences listed above.
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 11:13 AM, Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at stanford.edu>
> > > wrote=
> > > :
> > >
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> > > > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > Poster: Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at STANFORD.EDU>
> > > > Subject: Re: American exceptionalizm?
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> > > ------
> > > >
> > > > On Feb 22, 2012, at 7:20 AM, Jon Lighter wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Essentially the phrase simply means "the uniqueness of America."
> > > >
> > > > well, yes, but ...
> > > >
> > > > some good discussion in the latest issue of Daedalus, "On the
> American
> > > > Narrative", especially:
> > > >
> > > > New York University history Professor David Levering Lewis, in
> > > > =93Exceptionalism=92s Exceptions: The Changing American Narrative,=94
> > > tra=
> > > ces the
> > > > history of American exceptionalism =93from high-flown political
> science
> > > > theory=85to ideological boilerplate=94
> > > >
> > > > and in =93The American Mythos,=94 by Jay Parini, Middlebury College
> > > >
> > > > arnold
> > > >
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