[Ads-l] Clausewitz Quote

[Jonathan Lighter]

The more usual translation today may be "the continuation of political
intercourse with the admixture of other means."

I don't care for it myself.

JL

On Sun, Jan 22, 2017 at 11:17 AM, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:

> 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
>



-- 
"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