APOTD: We, the people [modified]
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The annoying phrase of the day is: We, the people. Why is "We" not sufficient? Who else would it be but "the people"? "We, the aliens"? Who do you think you are, a founding father? [Edit] It is annoying because everyone and their dog is using the phrase. It is a rhetorical trick, a rousing phrase meant to tug at your heart not your head. The founding fathers gave it huge weight and now my local hot dog seller says it as he sells his 4-inch-boiled-pig-meat-in-a-bun.[/Edit]
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
modified on Friday, November 14, 2008 9:48 AM
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The annoying phrase of the day is: We, the people. Why is "We" not sufficient? Who else would it be but "the people"? "We, the aliens"? Who do you think you are, a founding father? [Edit] It is annoying because everyone and their dog is using the phrase. It is a rhetorical trick, a rousing phrase meant to tug at your heart not your head. The founding fathers gave it huge weight and now my local hot dog seller says it as he sells his 4-inch-boiled-pig-meat-in-a-bun.[/Edit]
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
modified on Friday, November 14, 2008 9:48 AM
perhaps it could be 'we, the programmers', or, 'we, the men', or 'we, the women' The qualification is valid I think because it sets the scope of "we".
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The annoying phrase of the day is: We, the people. Why is "We" not sufficient? Who else would it be but "the people"? "We, the aliens"? Who do you think you are, a founding father? [Edit] It is annoying because everyone and their dog is using the phrase. It is a rhetorical trick, a rousing phrase meant to tug at your heart not your head. The founding fathers gave it huge weight and now my local hot dog seller says it as he sells his 4-inch-boiled-pig-meat-in-a-bun.[/Edit]
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
modified on Friday, November 14, 2008 9:48 AM
I think it's to differentiate from the rulers.
Cheetah. Ferret. Gonads. What more can I say? - Pete O'Hanlon
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The annoying phrase of the day is: We, the people. Why is "We" not sufficient? Who else would it be but "the people"? "We, the aliens"? Who do you think you are, a founding father? [Edit] It is annoying because everyone and their dog is using the phrase. It is a rhetorical trick, a rousing phrase meant to tug at your heart not your head. The founding fathers gave it huge weight and now my local hot dog seller says it as he sells his 4-inch-boiled-pig-meat-in-a-bun.[/Edit]
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
modified on Friday, November 14, 2008 9:48 AM
in context, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America" We the People usually refers to the phrase, "We the People of the United States"
Need software developed? Offering C# development all over the United States, ERL GLOBAL, Inc is the only call you will have to make.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -- Ernest Hemingway
Most of this sig is for Google, not ego. -
perhaps it could be 'we, the programmers', or, 'we, the men', or 'we, the women' The qualification is valid I think because it sets the scope of "we".
The context is set by the context, not the words. You don't need to set it again with "the people" or "the programmers" or "the bandicoots." Your examples are a little more valid than "the people" seeing as "the people" includes everyone which is what "we" does too, in context.
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
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I think it's to differentiate from the rulers.
Cheetah. Ferret. Gonads. What more can I say? - Pete O'Hanlon
Hah, yes, quite.
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
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in context, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America" We the People usually refers to the phrase, "We the People of the United States"
Need software developed? Offering C# development all over the United States, ERL GLOBAL, Inc is the only call you will have to make.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -- Ernest Hemingway
Most of this sig is for Google, not ego.Which is why I included "who do you think you are, a founding father?" in my post. That is a valid use. But everyone and their dog is using "We, the people" these days. Overused, hackneyed, tired. "We, the stupid who know not that you speak of us" more likely.
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
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The context is set by the context, not the words. You don't need to set it again with "the people" or "the programmers" or "the bandicoots." Your examples are a little more valid than "the people" seeing as "the people" includes everyone which is what "we" does too, in context.
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
lol I guess you're kind of right, but the big problem with context is that it's relative to the observer. If you have 92 people in the room they will each have their own context. Although if you were giving a speech in that room, you may consider the room to be a reasonable assumption of context. Then what about the person who is listening to an audio recording of that same speach, or what about the guy who's reading it three months later? Your interpretation of the statement is based on a presumption of context, and that often leads to miscommunications. Especially when making statements destined for a larger and often disconnected audience (likes the statements you were quoting).
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lol I guess you're kind of right, but the big problem with context is that it's relative to the observer. If you have 92 people in the room they will each have their own context. Although if you were giving a speech in that room, you may consider the room to be a reasonable assumption of context. Then what about the person who is listening to an audio recording of that same speach, or what about the guy who's reading it three months later? Your interpretation of the statement is based on a presumption of context, and that often leads to miscommunications. Especially when making statements destined for a larger and often disconnected audience (likes the statements you were quoting).
todd_001 wrote:
Your interpretation of the statement is based on a presumption of context, and that often leads to miscommunications
Certainly but "the people" isn't exactly going to clear things up when you read it three months later. "Oh! I didn't get the 'We' bit but now that he said 'the people' I get it. He must mean me where before I thought he meant lesser spotted lemurs from Madagascar..." :rolleyes: "I, the Paul, do hereby decree you all a bunch of soft-headed loafers who enjoy space-filling phrases that deliver zero extra information."
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
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The annoying phrase of the day is: We, the people. Why is "We" not sufficient? Who else would it be but "the people"? "We, the aliens"? Who do you think you are, a founding father? [Edit] It is annoying because everyone and their dog is using the phrase. It is a rhetorical trick, a rousing phrase meant to tug at your heart not your head. The founding fathers gave it huge weight and now my local hot dog seller says it as he sells his 4-inch-boiled-pig-meat-in-a-bun.[/Edit]
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
modified on Friday, November 14, 2008 9:48 AM
"We, The Living", by Ayn Rand. Great book by a great author. Highly recommended! :-)
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The annoying phrase of the day is: We, the people. Why is "We" not sufficient? Who else would it be but "the people"? "We, the aliens"? Who do you think you are, a founding father? [Edit] It is annoying because everyone and their dog is using the phrase. It is a rhetorical trick, a rousing phrase meant to tug at your heart not your head. The founding fathers gave it huge weight and now my local hot dog seller says it as he sells his 4-inch-boiled-pig-meat-in-a-bun.[/Edit]
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
modified on Friday, November 14, 2008 9:48 AM
It is meant We, The Citizenry. as opposed to We, The Executive or We, The Judiciary. It means the Ruling Classes are answerable to the people as a whole. In UK the Government is Her Majesty's Government, but she is Our Queen, she rules by the consent and assent of the people.
------------------------------------ We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. - Aesop
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The context is set by the context, not the words. You don't need to set it again with "the people" or "the programmers" or "the bandicoots." Your examples are a little more valid than "the people" seeing as "the people" includes everyone which is what "we" does too, in context.
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
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Well if someone doesn't look like a bandicoot it might need explaining.
Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.
Trollslayer wrote:
someone doesn't look like a bandicoot
Life is not really worth living in that case.
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
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It is meant We, The Citizenry. as opposed to We, The Executive or We, The Judiciary. It means the Ruling Classes are answerable to the people as a whole. In UK the Government is Her Majesty's Government, but she is Our Queen, she rules by the consent and assent of the people.
------------------------------------ We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. - Aesop
So whom does my hot dog seller mean? Hot dog buyers? Isn't that obvious?
Dalek Dave wrote:
she rules by the consent and assent of the people
Someone should tell her that...
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
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in context, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America" We the People usually refers to the phrase, "We the People of the United States"
Need software developed? Offering C# development all over the United States, ERL GLOBAL, Inc is the only call you will have to make.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -- Ernest Hemingway
Most of this sig is for Google, not ego.Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:
We the People usually refers to the phrase, "We the People of the United States"
Not in my country!! :)
It definitely isn't definatley
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todd_001 wrote:
Your interpretation of the statement is based on a presumption of context, and that often leads to miscommunications
Certainly but "the people" isn't exactly going to clear things up when you read it three months later. "Oh! I didn't get the 'We' bit but now that he said 'the people' I get it. He must mean me where before I thought he meant lesser spotted lemurs from Madagascar..." :rolleyes: "I, the Paul, do hereby decree you all a bunch of soft-headed loafers who enjoy space-filling phrases that deliver zero extra information."
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
:-) lol ok, well I guess I just disagree then, because I think "the people" would help articulate the context if it was read three months later.
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The annoying phrase of the day is: We, the people. Why is "We" not sufficient? Who else would it be but "the people"? "We, the aliens"? Who do you think you are, a founding father? [Edit] It is annoying because everyone and their dog is using the phrase. It is a rhetorical trick, a rousing phrase meant to tug at your heart not your head. The founding fathers gave it huge weight and now my local hot dog seller says it as he sells his 4-inch-boiled-pig-meat-in-a-bun.[/Edit]
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
modified on Friday, November 14, 2008 9:48 AM
Paul Watson wrote:
everyone and their dog is using the phrase
Is everyone saying it? And are dogs speaking now? You seem to have used an unnecessary form of words to emphasise your point, which was about sentence structures containing unnecessary words. It might be said that you've deliberately included a rousing phrase meant to tug at our hearts, not our heads.
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So whom does my hot dog seller mean? Hot dog buyers? Isn't that obvious?
Dalek Dave wrote:
she rules by the consent and assent of the people
Someone should tell her that...
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
Is this an Irish thing? I haven't heard anyone use the phrase since I learned about the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in 7th grade. Until now, that is. ;P
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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Paul Watson wrote:
everyone and their dog is using the phrase
Is everyone saying it? And are dogs speaking now? You seem to have used an unnecessary form of words to emphasise your point, which was about sentence structures containing unnecessary words. It might be said that you've deliberately included a rousing phrase meant to tug at our hearts, not our heads.
:rolleyes: Tomorrow, I will make a new post for APOTD and it will be; Everyone and their dog. p.s. Your post is full of unnecessary words aimed at my heart. :P
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
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Is this an Irish thing? I haven't heard anyone use the phrase since I learned about the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in 7th grade. Until now, that is. ;P
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
Roger Wright wrote:
I haven't heard anyone use the phrase since I learned about the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in 7th grade
This Radar piece[^] is what set me off. The past few months of US political campaigning though definitely raised the number of times "we, the people" was uttered. p.s. This Google search[^] brings up 42 Code Project occurences of "We, the people".
cheers, Paul M. Watson.