to parse

[Jonathan Lighter]

app. = "arrange; dispose in pattern":

1999 David D. Perlmutter _Visions of War_ (N.Y.: St. Martin's)  53: The two
sides [in a prehistoric rock painting of warriors] are parsed so that there
is no doubt that they are in opposition.

In 1999, Prof. Perlmutter was area head for political communication at the
Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU.

JL

On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 11:12 PM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Garson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: to parse
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Jon Lighter wrote:
> > It's the hot new, fun new way to say "determine; understand exactly":
>
> In the following 2002 excerpt the phrase "trying to parse" seems to
> mean "determine; understand exactly". But the OED does offer another
> definition for the verb parse: 2. trans. In extended use: to examine
> or analyse minutely.
>
> Title: Henry James Goes to the Movies
> Author: Susan M. Griffin
> Year: 2002 - 386
> (Google Books preview)
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Keep in mind that the metaphorical vertiginousness of The Golden Bowl,
> in its approximation of individuals trying to parse hidden motives and
> obscure desires, reduces the reader to a state where big
> epistemological questions - What is happening? What does it mean? How
> should it be valued? - are paramount.
> [End excerpt]
>
>
> Prominent writer David Foster Wallace used the phrase "trying to
> parse" in 1996. In the following excerpt the phrase may be interpreted
> as: trying to identify the grammatical constituents of a sentence in
> order to decode its meaning. However, some readers probably used Jon
> Lighter's suggested definition: "determine; understand exactly". This
> definition is simpler and easier to apply.
>
> My guess is that Wallace meant something more sophisticated. The
> parsing process referred to the construction of a mapping from the
> verbal directions to the physical world.
>
> Title: Infinite Jest: A Novel
> Author: David Foster Wallace
> Copyright date: 1996
> (Google Books preview)
>
> [Begin extracted text]
> Travelling long distances on signless streets trying to parse
> directions like 'Take the second left off the rotary by the driveway
> to the chiropractor's' and getting lost and shooting your whole
> evening after a long day just to speak for like six minutes at a
> plywood podium is called 'Getting Active With Your Group'; the
> speaking itself is known as '12th-Step Work' or 'Giving It Away.
> [End extracted text]
>
>
> On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 5:43 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:      to parse
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > It's the hot new, fun new way to say "determine; understand exactly":
> >
> > 2007 http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=829406 L I'm
> thinking
> > it's probably the Onkyo 604, but I can't seem to parse whether the hum
> > issues only pertain to the 804 (and the 684?).
> >
> > 2009
> >
> http://www.prefixmag.com/media/jesus-christ-the-indie-band/is-this-really-what-you-want-audio/33222/
> > :
> >  It's probably best to not even try to parse whether or not this band
> > meant to be ironic.
> >
> > 2010
> >
> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704756804575608733870097728.html
> > :
> >  The refocus comes at a time when booksellers are trying to parse
> > whether digital
> > sales are cannibalizing hardcover and paperback sales.
> >
> > 2012
> >
> http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100007219&docId=l:1652190394&isRss=true&Em=4
> >  : That seems like an impossible thing to parse, this $900,000 plus
> dollars
> > donated to Rielle Hunter. How do you parse whether or not that was done
> to
> > avoid humiliation or continue his campaign?
> >
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
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