[Ads-l] imaginary n.

[Jonathan Lighter]

Yeah, but fascism isn't "imaginary."

Regrettably.

JL

On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 12:52 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> Here is a pertinent citation from Hilaire Belloc as mentioned by Dennis.
>
> Year: 1924
> Book: Economics for Helen
> Author: Hilaire Belloc
> G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York
> Quote Page 212
> Database: Google Books Full View
>
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=I9w1AQAAIAAJ&q=%22Economic+Imaginaries%22#v=snippet&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> This subject is what I call "Economic Imaginaries."
>
> An imaginary is a term taken from mathematics, and means a value which
> appears on paper but has no real existence. It would be too long and
> much too puzzling to explain what imaginaries in mathematics are, but
> I can give you a very simple example of what they are in Economics.
> They mean economic values or lumps of wealth which appear on paper
> when you are making calculations, so that one would think the wealth
> was really there, but which when you go closely into their nature you
> find do not really exist.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 12:35 PM Dennis During <dcduring at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Usage in this sense is not rare in academic literature, extending at
> least
> > to 1978. There was a nonce use by Hilaire Belloc in the 1920s as well. He
> > used the term to mean "a fictitious thing" or similar. See
> > https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/imaginary#Noun.
> >
> > On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 11:25 AM Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/biographer-warns-trump-turn-criminal-094502743.html
> > > :
> > >
> > > " Donald Trump is much more than a man; he is a character and a symbol.
> > > That is how fascism and other such political imaginaries function. "
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > --
> > > "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
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Dennis C. During
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > 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