[Ads-l] more on "glory"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Consider these. They seem to mean personal satisfaction rather than renown:

1994 James H. McRandle _The Antique Drums of War_ (College Station: Texas
A. & M. U.P.) 13:  It is the common wisdom of our age that there is no
glory in war. Any particle of enjoyment which might have been attached to
the wearing of bright uniforms or the vision of the panorama of the
battlefield has disappeared in the grim holocausts of the twentieth century.


Edward Tabor Linenthal _Changing Images of the Warrior Hero in America_
(N.Y.: Mellen, 1982) 71: The ideas of glory present at Bull Run when men
still fought face to face were quite different from the trench warfare
around Petersburg in 1864.

On Thu, Feb 26, 2026 at 12:55 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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."
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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