[Ads-l] "We ARE x !"
Jonathan Lighter
wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Thu Oct 22 15:44:18 UTC 2015
I don't believe I understand your point.
JL
On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 11:41 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: "We ARE x !"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
>
--
"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
More information about the Ads-l
mailing list