Not at all.
English has an uncountable thousands of words it doesn’t need. If you don’t believe me, check out “A Word a Day,” and learn the meanings of words that are completely useless. The last two days brought us:
- April 14: Flocculent (adjective: having a fluffy, woolly texture).
- April 13: Impetrate (verb: to obtain by request or entreaty).
Maybe this impressed people a century ago, but if I wrote that a sheep was flocculent, I think you’d be rolling your eyes.
While some English speakers 400 years ago were discovering gravity, developing calculus, using newly minted telescopes to explore our solar system, and refining our understanding of logic as originally put forth by Aristotle, others were inventing words for groups of animals.
Sure, it’s useful to have words like “pack” (for dogs), “herd” (for cows and horses), “flock” (for birds), and perhaps a few others. But what about a group of owls (a parliament), flamingos (a flamboyance), or ferrets (a business)? And that’s just the beginning.
By contrast, Spanish has too few words, IMO. For those interested, here are the 15+ possible meanings in English of the verb “llevar.” As someone who made an honest attempt to learn the language, I’d go into panic mode when someone would say something with any conjugation of that verb. S***! Is he talking about wearing something, Giving someone a ride? Bringing something? Getting along well with someone? Stealing something?
A friend from Texas writes: It’s been an interesting week! A lot to reflect on. And Texas seems to be the epicenter. Folks are pretty flabbergasted over the defeat of all statewide Republican candidates (including state supreme court justices) and the election of a Democratic party-controlled state house.
Yes, Texas blew everyone’s mind. I think what the GOP experienced was a double-whammy if you will.
Consumer prices are high, due at least in part to Trump’s inane and illegal war in Iran. This is impacting the lives of working class Americans.
and
I’m pleased to be able to report that many people still have a conscience, which causes them to reject the GOP’s cruelty, dishonesty, dismissal of science, and criminality.
As shown here, white men, especially uneducated white men, are still not able to see that Trump is terrible for America.
If the last two years didn’t change that, it appears that nothing will.
The vast majority of Americans are thrilled that the midterms brought us the “blue tsunami,” but there are a couple of things that don’t really add up. You may have noticed that:
The U.S. wants a random alcoholic Fox News “journalist’s” head on the plate for having orchestrated the war in Iran, when all he was doing was pursuing his loyalty to Donald Trump, the man who started this asinine and grossly illegal war.
There seems to be no effort to cause Trump, who tried to violently overthrow the U.S. federal government, to face accountability for his treasonous acts.
What’s up with the media? Is there a concerted effort to avoid the facts? What’s the problem with honesty, and telling Americans the truth? Isn’t this the clearest instance of gaslighting in our history? Are we now trying to pretend that Trump never existed?
If such a landslide victory against a would-be autocrat had happened anywhere else on Earth, that traitor would be in prison now, in most cases facing execution.
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