[Ads-l] QOTY nominee: "Truth isn't truth"

[Peter Reitan]

"That's certainly what it's widely believed to have meant, but watching the
entire exchange suggests another, less dire, possibility."

This comment neatly summarizes nuch of the reporting on everything the President has said or tweeted since he announced his candidacy.
________________________________
From: Jonathan Lighter<mailto:wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: ‎8/‎19/‎2018 14:36
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: QOTY nominee: "Truth isn't truth"

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: QOTY nominee: "Truth isn't truth"
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That's certainly what it's widely believed to have meant, but watching the
entire exchange suggests another, less dire, possibility.

JL

On Sun, Aug 19, 2018 at 5:29 PM Mark Mandel <mark.a.mandel at gmail.com> wrote:

> No, I think the phrase means "Those are what you call facts. These are what
> I call facts, and yours are inconsistent with them."
>
> Mark Mandel
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 19, 2018 at 4:36 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > What he clearly meant is that what somebody says is the truth isn't
> > necessarily the truth.
> >
> > Giuliani then said:
> >
> > "Donald Trump says, 'I didn't talk about  Flynn with Comey'. Comey says,
> > 'You did talk about it.'  So tell me what the truth is."
> > I doubt he meant that "Truth is not truth," which  remains logically
> > impossible. He meant that from two conflicting stories from equally
> > reliable witnesses,  you can't decide without other evidence what the
> truth
> > really is.   And you might be wrong anyway.
> > (N.b., "equally reliable" and "without other evidence.")
> > Similarly, Kellyanne's "alernative facts" meant "other facts that
> outweigh
> > yours."
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Aug 19, 2018 at 3:53 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > This one from Rudy Giuliani could be hard to beat for QOTY. Even in the
> > > moment Chuck Todd recognizes its meme potential.
> > >
> > > ----
> > >
> > >
> >
> https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/19/politics/rudy-giuliani-truth-isnt-truth/index.html
> > >
> > > "When you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he's going
> to
> > > tell the truth and he shouldn't worry, well, that's so silly because
> it's
> > > somebody's version of the truth. Not the truth," Giuliani told NBC's
> > Chuck
> > > Todd on Sunday morning during "Meet the Press."
> > >
> > > "Truth is truth," Todd said in response.
> > >
> > > "No, no, it isn't truth," Giuliani said. "Truth isn't truth. The
> > President
> > > of the United States says, "I didn't ..."
> > >
> > > "Truth isn't truth?" Todd interjected. "Mr. Mayor, do you realize, what
> > ...
> > > I think this is going to become a bad meme."
> > >
> > > "No, no, no ... don't do this to me," Giuliani said.
> > >
> > > "Don't do 'truth isn't truth' to me," Todd continues.
> > > ----
> > >
> > > (I'm hoping Larry can explain this fascinating exercise in
> > self-negation.)
> > >
> > > --bgz
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > 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."

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

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