In software engineering, we use a term, overloaded, to describe keywords that have different uses in different contexts. And we really should try to avoid overloading whenever possible — it has a synonym, ambiguous. It seems in a logical world there should be connections among words that seem to point in a similar direction. This…
Category: Words Poorly Used
Words Poorly Used #47 — History
We don’t scramble facts on purpose, we just do. Then we socialize the scramble and call it “history.” The other day, I heard this interesting story from Stefan Molyneux on his Free Domain podcast — his first history professor in college interrupted his question in mid-sentence by throwing her eyeglasses at him, and he caught…
Words Poorly Used #46 — Freedom
Wouldn’t William Wallace, aka Braveheart, be rolling over in his grave now? Contrary to popular misconception, Scotland’s people will not be voting on either freedom or independence. They will be voting on (and in the minds of some, submitting to) which government they will have — a.) British rule or b.) another state modeled on…
Words Poorly Used #45 — Education
I was really cranked today when I read on Facebook that some useful idiot was quoted as saying that he was happy to pay taxes for public education so he didn’t have to live in a society of idiots! Whaa-a-a-a-aattt? Has this guy watched television any time since 1950? Does he think that reality shows,…
Words Poorly Used #44 — Declaration of Independence
There can hardly be a thing more futile than to declare one’s independence. If you are truly independent then a declaration is unneeded. If you are not independent then mere words cannot change that miserable condition. Furthermore, there is no legal means of achieving independence via a declaration. If you are a part of a…
Words Poorly Used #43 — Luxury
I have been living on the farm for 10 years now, and I have had such a wonderful decade that congress would outlaw it if they knew about it. But I have also had a purple big toe nail for practically all of that time. Every time it appears that it has finally grown out,…
Words Poorly Used #42 — Interpretation II
As we noted with religious institutions, which are far more voluntary than state institutions, the power flows to those who write the book, choose the language for the book, and appoint the attendants of the book. An even greater power flows to the oligarchy operating through the institution of the state, which is purportedly there…
Words Poorly Used #41 — Interpretation
Interpretation is not the same as translation, although some will confuse the terms, by design or otherwise. I am in the midst of listening to Dan Carlin’s podcast, Hardcore History, Show 48 — Prophets of Doom. It is a recounting of the European period often called the Reformation, a time most characterized by a dramatic…
Words Poorly Used #40 — Commemoration
Looking at the etymology of this word, we can deduce that it means a group recalling something together. Unfortunately, here in the nation, it means remembering mythology together so we can forget individually what has happened in reality. Today, we commemorate the events of war and our fellow nationals who have served and died in…
Words Poorly Used #39 — Self-Esteem
Lately I see many occurrences of the term “self-esteem” being used in a pejorative sense, and less frequently in a congratulatory way. The phrase is intended, however, to describe self estimation (neither good nor bad). All philosophies end in knowing one’s self and one’s place in the scheme of things. The estimation of these matters…