Jeremy (in Zits-world) disputes with his mother over what it means to argue:
An echo of the “argument clinic” sketch from Monty Python’s Flying Circus (show #29):
… Man [a client of the clinic] Well, an argument’s not the same as contradiction.
Mr Vibrating [apparently in charge of the clinic] It can be.
Man No it can’t. An argument is a connected series of statements to establish a definite proposition.
Mr Vibrating No it isn’t.
Man Yes it is. It isn’t just contradiction.
Mr Vibrating Look, if I argue with you I must take up a contrary position.
Man But it isn’t just saying ‘No it isn’t’.
Mr Vibrating Yes it is.
Man No it isn’t, argument is an intellectual process … contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of anything the other person says.
Mr Vibrating No it isn’t.
[and so on, maddeningly]
March 20, 2010 at 6:28 am |
[…] Arnold Zwicky's Blog A blog mostly about language « It all depends on your definition of … […]
March 22, 2010 at 7:35 am |
I was just with a new acquaintance this past weekend who told me that she and her husband frequently “aggressively agree”.
March 27, 2010 at 3:50 pm |
[…] with Jeremy negotiating with his parents on meaning in context. In earlier cartoons, it was argue (here) and late (here) that were at issue; now it’s […]