[Ads-l] "Alternative facts" for EOTY

[Jonathan Lighter]

Thanks, Garson.

Consider that an entertaining or moralizing "fable" is not quite the same
as a "lie."

JL

On Wed, Jan 25, 2017 at 12:50 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> A Washington Post reporter on MSNBC, attempting strict objectivity,
> offhandedly referred to Mr. Trump's "alternative facts" as "mistruths."
>
> JL
>
> On Wed, Jan 25, 2017 at 11:48 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
> adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> > The Net finds numerous recent posts asserting that leading self-help
>> guru
>> > Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote, "What is the truth but a lie agreed
>> upon?"
>> >
>> > And if a bigshot said it, it must be true.
>> >
>> > GB reveals no authentic attributions to Freddy, and none before 2016.
>>
>> I have examined a family of relayed sayings about historical truth:
>>
>> What Is History But a Fable Agreed Upon?
>> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/07/05/fable/
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> Dear Quote Investigator: A popular skeptical viewpoint about history
>> can be expressed in a few different ways:
>>
>> 1) What is history but a fable agreed upon?
>> 2) History is a set of lies agreed upon.
>> 3) History is a set of lies that people have agreed upon.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Garson
>>
>> >
>> > A blog site confidently attributes "Truth Is a Lie Agreed Upon" to (wait
>> > for it)..."Abraham Lincoln."
>> >
>> > Cf. the older and ever-popular "History is a lie agreed upon."
>> >
>> > So who, Garson, really introduced the phrase attributed to Nietzsche?
>> >
>> > JL
>> >
>> > On Tue, Jan 24, 2017 at 8:30 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> >> > On Jan 24, 2017, at 8:14 PM, Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> > A la "alt right"?
>> >> >
>> >> > Joel
>> >>
>> >> Seems so.  OED, s.v. “alt”:
>> >> Alternative; spec. denoting a version of some cultural phenomenon
>> (orig.
>> >> and esp. music) that is regarded as outside the mainstream of its
>> genre.
>> >> [citing “alt.rock” and “alt country”]
>> >>
>> >> So alt facts would be a cultural phenomenon regarded as outside the
>> >> mainstream of the fact genre (in being, well, not true).
>> >>
>> >> LH
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >      From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> >> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> >> > Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2017 8:02 PM
>> >> > Subject: Re: [ADS-L] "Alternative facts" for EOTY
>> >> >
>> >> > MSNBC is now using the short form "alt facts."
>> >> >
>> >> > JL
>> >> >
>> >> > On Tue, Jan 24, 2017 at 3:06 PM, Jonathan Lighter <
>> >> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
>> >> > wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> >> Wrong! Wrong!
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Not a falsehood! It's an important alternate fact.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Also note my signature line of many years standing.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> JL
>> >> >>
>> >> >> --
>> >> >> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>> >> truth."
>> >> >>
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > "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
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> >> 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."
>



-- 
"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