Wordwizard

Another recent example of the use of ‘mulligan.’ <2018 “In one of his first interviews since joining Mr. Trump’s legal team, Mr. Giuliani appeared to briefly stun Sean Hannity of Fox News by asserting that the president had reimbursed his personal lawyer for a $130,000 hush payment to Stephanie Clif...

<2017 “‘But every author can taste the poison another has slipped into the punch,’ and the critic ended by calling Arthur ‘a magniloquent spoony .”— New York Times Book Review > Here’s the word that ‘magniloquent' modified in my previous posting and I would classify it as archaic. Merriam-Webster.co...

<2017 “‘But every author can taste the poison another has slipped into the punch,’ and the critic ended by calling Arthur ‘a magniloquent spoony.’”— New York Times Book Review (in book review of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Less: A Novel by Sean Greer) Note: spoony to be addressed in a subsequen...

Tony,

Very good way of looking at it.

Ken

<2018 “Liberals often like to accuse the Right of ‘ epistemic closure ’—a refusal to consider any evidence that contradicts their cherished beliefs and biases.”— The Week , April 20, page 12> It’s hard for me to visualize accusing anyone with the phrase ‘epistemic closure,’ but I suppose philosophy...

John, Interesting expression which I had never heard either. Note that Judas Sheep is another expression used with the same meaning. The following are a few of the 62 quotes I found in a news archive: <1990 “Democrats smell a rat-or a plot-and see Rostenkowski as the Judas goat who will lead them in...

This article appeared in The Week , March 30 issue, page 12 and is based on a NYMagazine piece by Jonathan Chait. ______________________________ Consistently wrong on the economy: President Trump’s new chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow has been “historically, massively wrong” about the economy fo...

Here's an interesting quote and statistic: <2018 "Mr. Trump’s presidency has been marked from the start with false or misleading statements, such as his outlandish claims that more people came to his inauguration than any before and that at least three million unauthorized immigrants voted illegally...

In an article on Chinese president Xi Jinping, I read the following: <2018 “It is difficult to measure popular opinion in China, but there seems to be little doubt that the country’s economic and political stability in recent years — bolstered by hagiographic coverage — has bolstered Mr. Xi’s effort...

John and Tony,

You're right on the money!
___________________

Ken — March 10, 2018

The following quote is from Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) and appeared in The Week , March 9, 2018, page 17: Many a good argument is ruined by some fool who knows what he is talking about. Note: Today, McLuhan, author of The Medium is the Message , probably would have used the phrase ‘who knows what ...

Wikipedia has a particularly good discussion on the possible origins of
Mind your P’s and Q’s.
____________________________

Ken Greenwald — March 8, 2018

The following appeared in an article on a lawsuit recently filed by Oscar-winning actress Olivia de Havilland’s (101 years old – long retired) lawsuit against a movie production company: <2018 “Few expect her to win, but the action is nonetheless reverberating as a kind of last stand against the cur...

The cover story in this week’s issue of the news magazine The Week says: Trump’s ‘truthers’ — The tinfoil-hat campaign to discredit Mueller’s Russia investigation The cover shows two investigators with grim looks and wearing what looks like aluminum foil hats that rise to a point. In the article it ...

One could argue that "prepared to" implies that one has the tools to do the job, whereas "willing to" says that "I'll give it a go" even if I don't necessarily have the tools to do the job (e.g. "I am prepared to go to war" vs. "I am willing to go to war.") Perhaps the ones who are prepared have bee...