[lit-ideas] but

  • From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2011 13:31:15 EDT

WW1 slang
 
In a message dated 6/17/2011 1:22:32 P.M., ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx  writes:
My great uncle was in the artillery; my grandfather was in the  infantry.  
They had very different wars.
David Ritchie,
whose last  paper was on WW1 slang


---
 
A fascinating topic. As Geary notes, I admire "Great War" songs. There's  
something fascinating about them. I wouldn't know what expressions are slangy 
 and which are not, but hey. 
 
I would think that "Oh what a lovely war!" -- the musical -- contains a lot 
 of slang. I never was able to see the apparently bad rewrite in film 
format with  Maggie Smith -- but some of the songs of this 'revival' of genuine 
Great War  songs are glorious: 'Make a man of any one of you' must be my 
favourite, plus  all that hymnal rewritten stuff. 
 
------- Partridge possibly studied this widely: "Great War" slang.
 
Grice's father had a business with the Great War, and he later became  
bankrupt during the Armistice, and dedicated his life to play the violin.
 
Grice recalled the Great War. His example of the conventional implicature  
of 'but' being:
 
"'Tis the same the whole world over"
 
--- She was poor BUT she was honest.
 
There are zillion variants of this. My favourite in "Other men's  flowers".
 
victim of a squire's whim.
 
---- cfr.
 
"And her parents were the same.
till she met a city feller and she lost her honest name."
 
---
 
Etc.
 
Grice discusses the example at length in online, "Causal theory of  
perception", section II -- 1961, for the Aristotelian Society. Notably  
cancellability and detachability:

"She was poor but she was honest, but I don't want to suggest any  contrast 
between honesty and poverty as such".
 
Lack of implicature: "She was poor AND she was honest".
 
Etc.
 
"In formal logic, we don't need 'but'" Grice concludes.
 
Toulmin disagreed: "Unlike Grice thinks, we do need 'but' in logic".
 
----- And so on.
 
In German, 'but' (originally by-out) is "aber". In Danish, Geary  informs 
me, there is no 'but' about it (the Danish language).
 
Cheers,
 
Speranza
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