[Ads-l] "We ARE x !"

[Dan Goncharoff]

And if you back over 100 years, you find instances of "We are Russia". In
Cyrillic, of course...I don't know if you find examples of "We are France"
in 1848. I doubt you will find "We are Germany" back then, since there was
no Germany back then!

DanG

On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 6:28 AM, 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: "We ARE x !"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Just watched an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" from the early
> '90s (can't be any more specific) in which  Klingons inspirit themselves
> (with no non-Klingons present)  by chanting "We are Klingons!"
>
> Emphasis on the word "Klingons," however.
>
> JL
>
> On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 12:44 AM, Spanbock/Svoboda-Spanbock <
> spanbocks at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Spanbock/Svoboda-Spanbock <spanbocks at VERIZON.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: "We ARE x !"
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Hardly. He gave talks every spring for decades in Ojai, which is a
> > little over an hour outside of Los Angeles. There were always plenty
> > of celebrities among the people who came to the talks every year. He
> > was the guru of choice for some time.
> >
> > Kate
> >
> >
> > On Nov 17, 2011, at 5:59 AM, Jonathan Lighter 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: "We ARE x !"
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > "We are the World" was recorded in 1985.
> > >
> > > Coincidence?:
> > >
> > > 1956  J. Krishnamurti _Commentaries on Living: Third Series_
> > > (rpt.1967: Wheaton, Ill.: Quest) 78: As you say, the world is of our
> > > own making; the world is us and we are the world. To change the world
> > > we must change ourselves....Regeneration must therefore begin with
> > > ourselves.
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 8:44 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: "We ARE x !"
> > >>
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>
> > >> Just to be clear--there IS a reduced version--"We ARE 99%!"
> > >>
> > >> Two more points of reference. If we go back far enough, we get "We
> > >> are
> > >> the World!" song, although that clearly had a different stress
> > >> pattern.
> > >>
> > >> On the other hand, there is a current series of Farmers Insurance
> > >> commercials that includes the phrase, "We ARE insurance," followed
> > >> by a
> > >> "We are Farmers!" jingle.
> > >>
> > >>    VS-)
> > >>
> > >>> I know, I know--it does not sound as romantic once you insert the
> > >>> article...
> > >>>
> > >>>    VS-)
> > >>>
> > >>> On 11/16/2011 4:04 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > >>>> News reports over the past several days have occasionally included
> > >>>> Penn State students both defending and deploring legendary coach
> > >>>> Joe
> > >>>> Paterno as well as offering gestures of goodwill to the alleged
> > >>>> victims of Jerry Sandusky.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> The sudents can be heard chanting or emphatically asserting as
> > >>>> individuals, "We ARE Penn State!"  I'm not sure what that's
> > >>>> supposed
> > >>>> to mean beyond, "Harken to us!"
> > >>>>
> > >>>> A few years ago, "We ARE Virginia Tech!" was the refrain of an
> > >>>> alleged
> > >>>> poem by Nikki Giovanni, written in the wake of an even worse
> > >>>> situation. It seemed to mean, "We of VT are strong enough to get
> > >>>> through absolutely anything unfazed."
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Both of these usages seemed familiar, but how?
> > >>>>
> > >>>> In another one of those epiphanous moments, I suddenly recalled
> > >>>> that
> > >>>> 1976 film _Taxi Driver_ ("You talkin' to  me? You talkin' to *me*?
> > >>>> Well, you must be talkin' to me, 'cause I'm the only one here!")
> > >>>> featured a slick political candidate, target of the insane Travis
> > >>>> Bickel, who was running on the slogan "We ARE the People!"   (Cf.
> > >>>> "We
> > >>>> ARE the 99%!" )
> > >>>>
> > >>>> The irony seemed to be that the slogan in the film was utterly
> > >>>> vapid.
> > >>>> It reminded me of the equally inane, but seriously intended,
> > >>>> "Nixon's
> > >>>> the One!" of 1968.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Moral: yesterday's inanity, today's inspiration.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> JL
> > >>>
> > >>
> > >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >> 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."
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > 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."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org