A few months ago, I used "conceit" closer to its original meaning of "that which is conceived", i.e. a fanciful idea. That puzzled a few and, I guess, led others to see the use as archaic. Here is a quote from the L.A. times, two days ago (Aug 17): "FOR ALMOST 40 years, the conceit has been growing around the world that Palestinian terrorism can be explained and even excused by Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This was always a dubious proposition in light of the fact that ... the Palestine Liberation Organization began its attacks while the West Bank was still part of Jordan and Gaza was part of Egypt." -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
OT Conceit
Started by ●August 19, 2005
Reply by ●August 19, 20052005-08-19
> A few months ago, I used "conceit" closer to its original meaning of > "that which is conceived"That would be a concept, not a conceit, or a conception depending on the context ;-)
Reply by ●August 19, 20052005-08-19
"Jerry Avins" <jya@ieee.org> wrote in message news:0aSdnZ2dnZ3eYNrunZ2dnZymm96dnZ2dRVn-zZ2dnZ0@rcn.net...>A few months ago, I used "conceit" closer to its original meaning of "that >which is conceived", i.e. a fanciful idea. That puzzled a few and, I guess, >led others to see the use as archaic. Here is a quote from the L.A. times, >two days ago (Aug 17): > > "FOR ALMOST 40 years, the conceit has been growing around the world that > Palestinian terrorism can be explained and even excused by Israeli > occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This was always a dubious > proposition in light of the fact that ... the Palestine Liberation > Organization began its attacks while the West Bank was still part of > Jordan and Gaza was part of Egypt." >Hello Jerry, My Random House Dictionary yields: n. defn 1: an excessively favorable opinion of one's own ability, importance, wit, etc. defn 2: a fancy;whim; fanciful notion defn 3: an elaborate, fanciful metaphor, esp. of a strained or far fetched nature defn 4: something conceived in the mind; a thought; idea defn 5: a fancy, purely decorative article v.t. defn 6: Obs. a. to imagine b. to conceive; apprehend I guess so many are used to the 1st defn, they don't usually associate any of the others with the word. Of course the question arises which meaning did the paper intend? Their 2nd sentence leads me to defn 2 or 3. However defn 4 seems pretty innocuous. Clay
Reply by ●August 19, 20052005-08-19
porterboy76@yahoo.com wrote:>>A few months ago, I used "conceit" closer to its original meaning of >>"that which is conceived" > > > That would be a concept, not a conceit, or a conception depending on > the context ;-)Believing that one is so knowledgeable that one need not look it up before questioning it fits definition 1. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=conceit: con�ceit Audio pronunciation of "conceit" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kn-st) n. 1. A favorable and especially unduly high opinion of one's own abilities or worth. 2. An ingenious or witty turn of phrase or thought. 3. 1. A fanciful poetic image, especially an elaborate or exaggerated comparison. 2. A poem or passage consisting of such an image. 4. 1. The result of intellectual activity; a thought or an opinion. 2. A fanciful thought or idea. 5. 1. A fancy article; a knickknack. 2. An extravagant, fanciful, and elaborate construction or structure: �An eccentric addition to the lobby is a life-size wooden horse, a 19th century conceit� (Mimi Sheraton). Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
Reply by ●August 19, 20052005-08-19
Jerry Avins wrote:> A few months ago, I used "conceit" closer to its original meaning of > "that which is conceived", i.e. a fanciful idea. That puzzled a few and, > I guess, led others to see the use as archaic. Here is a quote from the > L.A. times, two days ago (Aug 17): > > "FOR ALMOST 40 years, the conceit has been growing around the world that > Palestinian terrorism can be explained and even excused by Israeli > occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This was always a dubious > proposition in light of the fact that ... the Palestine Liberation > Organization began its attacks while the West Bank was still part of > Jordan and Gaza was part of Egypt." >Jerry, apologies (another word with distinct meanings, one of which, intended here, will be unknown to most readers) for sophisticated English are pretty much a waste of time. Since schools stopped teaching Latin (maybe 50 years ago) and then English itself (from maybe 30 years ago) we now have 2 generations who are unfamiliar with, for example, distinct derivations from a Latin infinitive stem, and a Latin supine stem. What should be self-evident connexions are perceived by most as totally unrelated words. It will take decades of serious corrective reform of our educational systems to fix things.... That last paragraph serendipitously provides another example....I've read umpteen books in which the face, chest or stomach of a "prone" body is assaulted etc. A clever trick! The word the authors didn't know was, of course, "supine"..... A Human Resources executive I once confronted across a bargaining table complained that "technical people are numerate, but illiterate". My rejoinder at the time was that this was better than being literate, but innumerate, but I saw it as definitely a rearguard action. The man had a point.... Geoff.
Reply by ●August 20, 20052005-08-20
Geoff wrote: ...> That last paragraph serendipitously provides another example....I've > read umpteen books in which the face, chest or stomach of a "prone" body > is assaulted etc. A clever trick! The word the authors didn't know > was, of course, "supine".....Those who know anatomy will know those words if they make connections at all. The muscles that rotate the wrist relative to to the elbow are the pronator and supinator. Usually, the supinator is the stronger, so when straining to remove a screw, try using the left hand. Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
Reply by ●August 20, 20052005-08-20
Jerry Avins wrote:> > Those who know anatomy will know those words if they make connections at > all. The muscles that rotate the wrist relative to to the elbow are the > pronator and supinator. Usually, the supinator is the stronger, so when > straining to remove a screw, try using the left hand. > > JerryI didn't know that! I assume that applies to a right-handed individual; reversed for lefties? Geoff.
Reply by ●August 20, 20052005-08-20
> > I didn't know that! > I assume that applies to a right-handed individual; reversed for lefties? > > Geoff. >Errm....replace "individual" by "screw".... ...fades into background, mumbling "I know what I *meant* to say"....<grin> Geoff.
Reply by ●August 21, 20052005-08-21
Geoff wrote:> Jerry Avins wrote: > >> >> Those who know anatomy will know those words if they make connections >> at all. The muscles that rotate the wrist relative to to the elbow are >> the pronator and supinator. Usually, the supinator is the stronger, so >> when straining to remove a screw, try using the left hand. >> >> Jerry > > > I didn't know that! > I assume that applies to a right-handed individual; reversed for lefties?No, For both lefties and righties (working right-hand threads) with more or less equal strength in both arms, the right hand can exert more tightening torque and the left hand more loosening torque. The supinator muscle -- the one that turns the palm up -- is stronger in most people than the pronator -- the one that turns the palm down. It's easier for most people to chin with palms toward them. Is that related? Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
Reply by ●August 21, 20052005-08-21
Geoff wrote:>> >> I didn't know that! >> I assume that applies to a right-handed individual; reversed for lefties? >> >> Geoff. >> > > Errm....replace "individual" by "screw".... > > ...fades into background, mumbling "I know what I *meant* to say"....<grin>Yeah. Got it! Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
