Even those who don't live in the U.S. probably know that we are having a presidential campaign going on. If not, you've been in Outer Slabbovia (an interesting term in itself!) for the past few months. While annoying, it can sometimes be entertaining - or even linguistically interesting. Charles Blow wrote an article about Jeb Bush's penchant for saying "for crying out loud." I was amazed at how many quotes he found Jeb saying that phrase, and apparently there are many more.
Blow says he says it when his back is against the wall and he realizes he is saying something that could be controversial. So "for crying out loud" dampens the backlash before it happens. That seems a little far-fetched to me. What do you think?
It sounds like it's just a verbal tic. We all have our little speech idiosyncrasies and pundits who try to draw conclusions from politicians speech patterns are guilty of the schoolboy error of starting with a conclusion and then trying to find (or invent) evidence to support it.
We've all seen stories where a writer counts how many times someone he disagrees with politically uses the word "I" and tries to use it to paint him (or her) as some kind of arrogant egomaniac. Funny thing is that it works whether you are talking about left or right wing politicians.
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
I thought I would wish everyone goodbye, since at least one Christian group has announced that the world will end on Wednesday. I have no idea when you will read this, but if it's Thursday and you're still here, congratulations. Perhaps you're one of the saved. Or maybe you were missed when everyone else was chosen. In which case, better luck in the next life.
