[Ads-l] Clausewitz Quote

[Dave Wilton]

I agree. The "nothing" is important.

I would use "policy" rather than "politics." The latter tends to refer to the overall system of governance, exercising power, and distributing resources. "Policy" is a specific implementation of politics, and that's what Clausewitz is getting at.

I would go with a slightly more literal translation (although "nothing but" is fine too):

"War is nothing other than the continuation of policy by other means."


--Dave Wilton
   Department of English
   Texas A&M University
   dwilton at tamu.edu / dave at wilton.net



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Joel Berson
Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2017 9:15 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Clausewitz Quote

I think the "nothing other" or "nothing but" is important.  And in this context I would use for "mit" "by" rather than "with".  Thus my preference is:

"War is nothing but the continuation of politics by other means."

Joel

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