September 18, 2003

Irregular Verbs

Posted by Kieran

Commenting on the whole Erik Rasmusen thing at Indiana, Dan Drezner and the voice in his head write:

… the cure for promulgated ideas that are believed to be offensive or wrong is more speech, not less. … What need there is for a review beyond that is truly beyond me. … [Wait, wait, you forgot the ritual denunciation of Rasmusen’s views on homosexuality.—ed. That’s completely irrelevant to this question. … however, it’s worth highlighting a fact that Louis Menand pointed out in The Metaphysical Club:
One of the triggering events for the emergence of academic freedom was when a Stanford University professor was fired for making a speech that contradicted co-founder Jane Stanford’s views on the matter. The professor made a eugenicist argument against Asian immigration.

Looks like one of those irregular verbs that used to come up so often on Yes, Minister. In this case we get:

I make provocative analogies.
You draw inappropriate comparisons.
He is an idiotarian fixated on moral equivalence.

Posted on September 18, 2003 08:07 AM UTC
Comments

The BBC thread omits what I thought were the two canonical cases— not conjugations of verbs but declensions of nouns and adjectives.

I belong to a religion [alternatively: “denomination”].
You belong to a sect.
He belongs to a cult.

and:

I’m a patriot.
You’re a nationalist.
He’s a xenophobe. [alternatively: “racist.”]

(Multiple “Yes, Minister” posts in— what a week? I strongly approve.)

Posted by Jacob T. Levy · September 18, 2003 10:49 PM

Oh the canonical one is…um

I have an independent mind,

You are an eccentric

She’s round the twist.

I think that’s how it goes. And it certainly is how I see the world.

Posted by Ophelia Benson · September 19, 2003 12:21 AM

And of course the Russelian original

I am firm
You are obstinate
He is a pig headed fool

Posted by Dick Thompson · November 16, 2003 12:17 AM

I negotiate.
You bully.
He is raving warmonger.

Or in American hiring practices:

I give preferences.
You use quotas.
He is a racist who hates blacks.

Posted by Sebastian Holsclaw · January 8, 2004 10:28 PM

And, of course,

I am a traveller.
You are a holiday-maker.
He is a tourist.
(Courtesy of “A bit of Fry and Laurie”)

Posted by Jurjen · January 10, 2004 02:20 AM
Followups

→ Hypocritical? Moi?.
Excerpt: Evidence of a new irregular verb courtesy of Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America, full-time Washington lobbyist...Read more at Kieran Healy's Weblog
→ Irregular Verb Watch.
Excerpt: This New York Times Report about a fight in a firehouse defines a new irregular verb in its first three...Read more at Kieran Healy's Weblog

This discussion has been closed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.