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

[Laurence Horn]

On a less political and WOTYer note, how established was the blend “firenado” before the conflagrations of the last month or two in Redding and elsewhere?

LH 

> On Aug 19, 2018, at 5:43 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> "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"
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> 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"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 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."
>>> 
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>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>> 
>> 
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>> 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
> 
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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