York: Yes, the victims were from all over the globe — places like Brooklyn, and the Bronx, and Manhattan, and Queens, and Staten Island, and New Jersey — all over. And most were Americans, weren’t they? I HAVE NEVER SEEN PEOPLE ENJOYING THEIR HUSBAND’S DEATHS SO MUCH.”

Hats off to AnnCoulter for fixing that for Mr. York.

You shouldn’t be surprised if the rhetorical inflation of the non-American loss is taken as a deflation of the American loss.?

Certainly, I am no longer surprised when idiots make stuff up so that they have something to bitch about.
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The man with the bat is known (logically enough) as the batman. The opposing (non-batting) team are the visitors, or, in college games, the varsity. One of them will throw (or lob) the ball (or bail) in the direction of the batman standing at the opposite end of the playing area – the pitch or green. Six lobs make up a furlong after which the entire visiting side must walk slowly into the middle of the green, shake hands and then return to their places.

If the bail goes wide of the little wooden things ( three vertical sticks stuck in the ground, called innings, supporting two smaller wooden bars, or boycotts; collectively, this rectangular assembly is known as a cricket box) it is called a “wide”; if it goes straight over the top of the wooden things it is called an “over”. The lobber is, of course, aiming to hit the batman’s cricket box.
The batman scores points by hitting the bail and then running the length of the pitch – each time he manages to do so he scores one point, or try. If he hits the bail at all on the sixth lob of the furlong it is known as a six and scores six points.

Play is suspended in the event of rain or tea. As one or both of these exists at almost every point during an English summer, matches can often last for days. The current dominance of the game by Commonwealth sides is due to their long periods of dry weather, which allows them far more time to practice.
Because the state of the ground is extremely important in cricket – damp or waterlogged soil will change the way the bail bounces and can also exacerbate a painful fungal disease known to cricketers as sticky wicket – the first match of the season at a particular venue after the winter is known as a Test Match and, due to the handicap of uncertain ground condition, points scored count double for the rest of the season.
Please let me know if you have any more questions.

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Besides, what’s arcane about cricket? The guys with the bats have to stop the guys with the ball knocking over the little wooden things. When they do that by hitting the ball far enough away, they get to run up and down and score. If the little wooden thing gets knocked over, a new bat-guy has to come on, until they run out of guys. Jeeze, it ain’t rocket-science. Australians can play it, quite well.

See, in cooperative communication, certain background knowledge is often assumed. Which is why in this speech, for example, President Bush spends a whole paragraph enumerating the deaths of hundreds of Pakistanis, Israelis, Indians, El Salvadorians, Iranians, Mexicans, Japanese and British, without ever making explicit the fact that while hundreds of foreigners died, the attacks claimed thousands of Americans.

So, no, I wouldn’t call it “rhetorical inflation.” I’d call it “assuming your audience isn’t filled with ignorant jackasses.” (Though I’d admit that’s a dicey maneuver when the denizens of National Review are watching.)

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own. [John Kennedy, Inaugural Address]