[Ads-l] glory

[Jonathan Lighter]

Historically "glory" was something sought after and respected (as in the
title of the 1989 movie); now it is something widely dismissed.

Cf.:

1851 Hannah Ransome Geldart  _Stories of Scotland and its Adjacent Islands_
(London: A. Hall) 150-151: And yet in this our nineteenth century, it is
not uncommon to hear war excused, nay, even extolled. Boys are wont to read
of battles in history with all the interest that they would feel in an
exciting cricket match; and, in fancy, stand upon the battle field, caring
little for the wounded or the dying around, if but their favorite side win
the day. There is no glory in battle, children; it cannot be too often
sounded in your ears. There is no glory in war. Look at Culloden. It is not
an extreme case.

JL

On Wed, Jun 9, 2021 at 12:43 PM James Landau <
00000c13e57d49b8-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> On  Tue, 8 Jun 2021 13:45:34 Zone-0400 Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> posted
> <begin quote><snip>When people say, "There's no glory in war," they seem
> to me to be referring
> to some inner, transformational feeling of satisfaction rather than mere
> national recognition by others. Even Medal of Honor winners - recipients of
> glory in the traditional sense - have said there isn't any in war.
> <end quote>
> Here's a data point for you, the song "Roger Young" by Frank Loesser,
> first performed publicly in March 1945
>
>       - Oh, they've got no time for glory in the Infantry.
>       - Oh, they've got no use for praises loudly sung,
>       - But in every soldier's heart in all the Infantry
>       - Shines the name, shines the name of Rodger Young.
>          - Shines the name — Rodger Young,
>          - Fought and died for the men he marched among.
>          - To the everlasting glory of the Infantry
>          - Lives the story of Private Rodger Young.
>
>
> - James A. Landau
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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