FERGUSON

[Hoopington]

Oh well there you go then. I got confused cause nobody really makes that distinction. Whenever i've heard the word used, it's always just meant: something really bad.

Yeah, don't I know it. It ranks up there with the misused word "theory", which causes no small amount of problem with yokels who then claim evolution is "just a theory".

Lately the word "literally" has also been abused. It's no longer is the antonym for "metaphorically". It's become just a flavoring word along the lines of "really" or "very".

Words need to mean what they are agreed upon to mean or we lose our ability to communicate ideas. I am literally face palming as I think about the tragic failure in our public education system that so many people can say evolution is "just a theory" and think that's a good argument.

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A Tsunami or Earthquake killing untold numbers wouldn't qualify? [as a "tragedy"]

No offence intended, but that is absolute rubbish.

Well, perhaps the dictionary has been updated to reflect how this word has been abused and misused. Language evolves and perhaps I should keep up.

From dictionary.com

1. a dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction.
2. the branch of the drama that is concerned with this form of composition.
3. the art and theory of writing and producing tragedies.
4. any literary composition, as a novel, dealing with a somber theme carried to a tragic conclusion.
5.
the tragic element of drama, of literature generally, or of life.
6. a lamentable, dreadful, or fatal event or affair; calamity; disaster:
the tragedy of war.

That last one would seem to be a concession to the overuse of the word.

But yes, the definition I was taught in school was that the word "tragedy" is properly used it the ancient Greek/Shakespearean sense. It means a series of events that were avoidable but caused by some human failing.

Death by a tsunami or an earthquake is not a tragedy.

So call it "absolute rubbish" if you like. A more precise pejorative would be to say that I'm a grammar nazi. I still maintain we need to be more precise in our society with how we use words.

The word "literally" needs to be strictly used as an antonym for "metaphorically" or "proverbially", not as a meaningless flavor word. The word "theory" needs to be strictly used for a peer-reviewed explanation of something, not just some half-baked idea someone just came up with. The word "tragedy" needs to mean "bad events brought about by human failing that might have been avoided 'if only...' ", not just something bad happened.

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Probably because Tea Party rallies don't turn violent with looting, arson, and tearing down their damn city like the rioters did in Ferguson.

Oh please stop with the racist smearing of entire communities to justify the jack-booted oppression. We have video footage of media camera crews being fired upon:




This video is just one of many examples. The police were not just trying to control rioters or arrest looters. There is simply no excuse for sweeping through restaurants and beating up reporters and arresting them for typing on a laptop. There is simply no excuse for firing tear gas into people's homes and backyards, simply because they were saying things the police didn't like. There is simply no excuse for deploying a militarized response to a peaceful protest.

This is the stuff I expected from the former Soviet Union, not America.

And you know damn well that if the Tea Bagger protests was met with the same crackdown from the local police, every conservative in America would be shrieking that Obama's fascism has come to America and they'd be demanding nothing less than the prosecution of the local police chief and the impeachment of Obama.

Hell, when the IRS asked a couple of questions to Tea Bagger groups before granting them non-profit status, that was a SCANDAL! Help, help, we're being oppressed! The local IRS asked some questions and delayed our application a bit. Oh noes! It must be a grand conspiracy that goes directly to the White House. Quick, launch another 15 congressional investigations! Impeach! Impeach!

That's not what I said.

That's exactly what you said. You have some token blacks like Thomas and think this absolves your party from the charge of racism.

This is a variation on the "I have black friends" argument.

Yes, it is a shame that language evolves..........

It has, and, sorry to say, you have misused it, no matter what you were taught:

First definition found on Google, you can keep on looking, but nowhere does it state, when referring to the first listed "tragedy," that the event has to man made...unless it's that pesky play:

1. an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe.
"a tragedy that killed 95 people"
synonyms: disaster, calamity, catastrophe, cataclysm, devastation, misfortune, misadventure, mishap, reverse, vicissitude, setback, trial, tribulation, affliction, blight, injury, adversity, sad event, serious accident; More
antonyms: fortune, joy
2.
a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character.


Nowhere does it say the event causing great suffering has to be man made, and this incident definitely wasn't a play, novel or screenplay. Literally.

Your meaningless essay regarding your views on grammar, however much I may agree in principle, are irrelevant.

The original point made was regarding your assertion that this was a tragedy, I disagree. Sad? Very. Avoidable? Absolutely. Tragedy? Not even close.