[Ads-l] more on "glory"

[Jonathan Lighter]

And with "glory-hound," cf. the synonymous, much earlier, "glory-hunter"
(not in OED; Newspapers.com 1818).

JL

On Tue, Feb 24, 2026 at 8:09 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> But that AI would be indistinguishable from the ravings of a solipsistic
> ovate.
>
> Is that what the world needs now?
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Feb 24, 2026 at 8:03 PM Laurence Horn <
> 00001c05436ff7cf-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
>> What we need is an AI that defines "glory" as 'a nice knock-down
>> argument'.
>>
>> LH
>>
>> On Tue, Feb 24, 2026 at 7:32 PM Jonathan Lighter <
>> 00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>>
>> > I asked Gemini AI what it thought abot the concept of "glory," and it
>> gave
>> > an interesting interpretation:
>> >
>> > " 'glory in war' is all about what a soldier feels and experiences
>> > personally—it’s the honor and pride found in facing tough situations."
>> >
>> > Neither OED nor MW suggests anything like this. MW comes closer, but no
>> > cigar:
>> >
>> >  "3a  a state of great gratification or exaltation
>> >                          When she's acting she's in her glory."
>> >
>> > I found Gemini's notion of special interest because for many years, even
>> > decades, I've exncountered exx. of usage that conform to that notion.
>> > Naturally I can't cite even one, but generally  a veteran of some war or
>> > other would say something like "I was hoping to find glory, but
>> > instead....."  I've always privately interpreted such exx. to refer to
>> an
>> > extreme personal sense of pride or triumph rather than a more
>> conventional
>> > sense of the word (e.g.., "merited renown.")  Cf. the scornful epithet
>> > "glory-hound" (Newspapers.com, 1923). The glory-hound doesn't seek
>> "merited
>> > renown" so much as the right to brag of his supposed accomplishments.
>> Cf.
>> > also "blaze of glory," discussed here years ago.
>> >
>> > Isn't this a "new" semantic development of "glory"?
>> >
>> > Or is it just me and Gemini?
>> >
>> > 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
>> >
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> 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