urban legend

Subject: Re: phil. urban legend
>This reminds me of an urban legend in the philsophical world.
>
>J.L. Austin, of the "ordinary language" school that prevailed in post
>WW2 England, was giving a public lecture in which he remarked that in
>some languages a double neegative is used for emphasis while in others
>it was ungrammatical, and in logic it became a positive. He could
>think of no example of a double positive taking on the negative
>meaning.
>
>>From the back of the hall, a sarcastic voice said, "Yeah, yeah!"
A related (and no doubt apocryphal) story...
Unnamed Famous Computer Scientist --known for his abrasive and
confrontational manner-- is addressing a group of linguists. UFCS is
holding forth at his usual pace and announces to the audience that "Every
sentence _must_ have an explicit subject."
The (same?) voice from the back of the room calls out: "Fuck you!"
 
 
 

 

 
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Daniel Plänitz

8.3.98