[Ads-l] Another early "fact" = 'idea; proposition.'

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

There are some 19th century examples of the phrase "untrue fact" which
suggest that the definition of "fact: a thing that is indisputably the
case" does not quite capture the full meaning. One might argue that
these uses are anomalous and should not be included under the
definition. Innovative (and incompetent) speakers enjoy stretching the
definitions of words.

Year: 1890
Title: The Teachings of Humanity
Author: Ch. W. Rosenfeld
Translator: M. M. (from Hebrew)
Quote Page 100 and 101
Database: Google Books Full View

[Begin excerpt]
Hitherto we met a great many really deserving and pressing cases
unattended to or refused, because the applicants cannot or will not
humble themselves too much, or, as the impostors usually do, take
recourse to false statements, in order to satisfy the requirements of
the rules. Should there, however, happen an exceptional case where a
honest man has been driven by want and misery to state an untrue fact,
it is at once found out, it is seen in his face, and as a punishment
naturally follows-a refusal point blank.
[End excerpt]

Garson


On Thu, Jan 12, 2017 at 2:16 PM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 1968 Bill Finger et al. _The Green Slime_ (film) [No Pun Intended]: We're
> banking on the fact that Dr. Halvorsen's theory is correct.
>
> Halvorsen's *theory* is that the slime creatures feed on pure energy, which
> allows them to multiply like crazy. Something just described by the speaker
> as a dubious Theory is _ipso facto_ [No Pun Intended] not a Fact.
>
> 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