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| Noah Webster seems to grasp the concept in his 1828 dictionary. |
Readers regularly fall into a trap I call the “Two Definitions Problem.” They know a word means A, but forget it can also mean B,
For instance. On Monday, a reader chided me for referring to a choice between something that might cure you or kill you as “a dilemma.” A mistake, he lectured, because “a dilemma is a situation in which both possible outcomes are bad. ... Precise English is essential to the unambiguous writing for which you’re admired.”
I replied by pointing out that while a dilemma indeed can be a choice between bad alternatives, it can also simply be “a difficult situation or problem.”
We saw the Two Definitions Problem on public display last week at a Brandon Johnson press conference when a reporter called teens looting a 7-Eleven a “mob action” and the mayor objected.
“We’re not talking about mob actions,” Johnson said. “To refer to children as, like baby Al Capones, is not appropriate.”
There was a muffled “whump” as countless palms slapped countless foreheads. Meanwhile chairs innumerable scraped back as their occupants leapt up to cheer. The remark made headlines around the world.
“Chicago’s woke new mayor Brandon Johnson scolds reporters for using phrase ‘mob action’ to describe rabble of ‘400’ youngsters who trashed 7-Eleven in Windy City” blared Britain’s conservative Daily Mail.
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Johnson is a pathetic fool!
ReplyDeleteI'll bet he believes there aren't any bad people, just people with problems beyond their control.
As soon as he said that utter stupidity about that mob action, I too thought to myself, we're in for a really long four disastrous years with a fool for a mayor. His supporters are definitely going to regret voting for him!
And Neil, exactly why do you have a small machinist's vise on a bookshelf?
I'm guessing that the vise might have belonged to his father. I'm more curious about that "Read the Sun-Times every morning" poster. I don't think I have ever seen it before, despite growing up in suburban Chicago in the 50s and 60s, and then living there as an adult (1975-92). Which means it's either pretty old (late 40s to early 50s) or pretty new (90s or later).
Deletehttps://corp.7-eleven.com/corp/our-brand-story# this is 7-11 . a perfect target for political dissent. our mayor owes them nothing. they are not god corporate citizens. I hope they leave. we'd be better off without them. robber barons. gimme a bodega anytime. fuck 7-11
ReplyDeletedo everything my ass! you mean everything to protect the wealthy. even if it means criminalizing someone before they're grown. you Neil are part of the problem
This is, at least, the second time I've heard Mayor Johnson discount the behavior of these kids. Please Goddess, don't make me side with Catanzara.
ReplyDeleteNow that Mayor Johnson has made it clear where he comes from, he has to make it clear where he and the City are going to.
ReplyDeletejohn
You are spot on, in today's column, Mr. S.
ReplyDeleteI don't see the point in vilifying people whose prefrontal lobes are not fully developed, but Chicago needs to get a handle on these flash mobs. Perhaps monitor unusual activity on social media? It also seems disingenuous for Catanzara and other cops to get on their high horse, when it appears in some cases, as in Lakeview, they just sat on their hands and watched.
ReplyDeleteOn the radio I heard him say that these events should be referred to as trends not mob action. Orwellian.
ReplyDeleteCan we just ask ourselves what are we looking for in a mayor Exactly? a strict authoritarian? A law and order type? I'll lock them up and throw away the key kind of guy?
ReplyDeleteA back the blue fella?
Property owners unite. Let's get some more cops on the street. Throw the book at them prosecute to the full extent of law. I have a client that has a black lives matter poster in their window right next to a we call the police sign. It's often made me think. Do they understand what black lives matter means to any of us? I can tell you mayor Johnson understands. And he seems unwilling to support the pipeline to prison mentality. That has so long been the way things are set up here in Chicago for underprivileged underrepresented groups.
I did my fair share a law breaking as a kid smoking weed in the park underage drinking I'm white. I didn't get a record. It didn't ruin my life and keep me from being able to get work. I am under the impression that the majority of people here commenting are white. You just don't understand what it's like to be brown or black. You just don't understand
WOW! Under age drinking & pot smoking? The makings of a truly dangerous criminal. /s
DeleteThat mob of people were destroying a 7-11, which is a lot worse than drinking or smoking pot!
I agree Anon. These issues have never been truly understood in our country or around the world. I am so very sad that I'm afraid to go out in the city I've called home for my whole life. Just a very sad time, but it's been a very sad time for brown and black Chicagoans as long as I've been here, over 50 years. I've seen it first hand. Terrible harassment of people of color, sometimes right in front of me when I was left alone. I don't know what the solution is anymore.
DeleteHow about we give the new mayor a chance to figure out a different way of approaching these problems and see if he can make even a small change in course before we start calling them a fool and intimating that he doesn't understand the language. These are all tropes that we've used to disparage black people over the centuries. It's a dog whistle. They call it and even those of us who fight against bigotry can be guilty of this type of prejudice.
DeleteMaybe we could just back off a little bit. Let the man do his job and see if maybe because of his life experience he could give us guidance instead of accusing him of taking the situation which already sucked when he got in and making it worse he isn't. He isn't making it worse. It's not his fault that these things are happening. Don't just make him the new person to blame
A strong column, indeed, even if it includes having to agree with Catanzara. ; )
ReplyDeleteThe 6:45 Anon. offers a particularly fluffy straw-man. The problem here is clearly a legitimate dissatisfaction with 7-Eleven! Then follows that up by inventing their own selective definition of "everything," via which to criticize you. Ay-yi-yi!
People wondered whether Johnson was too young / inexperienced to be an effective mayor. While I'm not giving up on him this early into his term, it's certainly disappointing, regardless of what his intentions are, that he doesn't know that a mob action does not refer to something sanctioned by Al Capone.
The thing that I'm trying to point out here regards, neils suggestion that mayor Johnson is the mayor for 7-Eleven too. That's just not true. They're one of the biggest companies in the world and he owes them nothing. Whereas citizens are his constituency. Yes, I'm hating on 7-Eleven because like so many giant companies they keep the mom and pops from thriving. And pull their profits out of the area
DeleteI watched the video and as it turns out I actually go to this 7-Eleven my son lives nearby.
In other words, i live in the city. Mayor Johnson is my mayor. I live in an area that is 97% African American and I talk to people every day who are my neighbors and I understand the different types of things they have to deal with. They and their children their families and then listen to the BS that white people say about their circumstance. People who don't know nothing about black people talking about the solutions for black people. back off. And then disparaging the newest black mayor
I give you credit for responding. I think you, Neil and I probably agree about a lot of things, despite this exchange.
DeleteWhatever one thinks about the 7-Eleven corporation, chances are that the people who work at that particular one live in the city, so Johnson is their mayor, too. For whatever that's worth. At the risk of being obnoxious, if you hate the company so much and are concerned about the mom and pops, maybe you could not give them your business.
I live in the city, too, and voted for Johnson twice, so I feel justified in offering an opinion about him, which was not all that harsh, at any rate. Neil is a columnist and is employed specifically to offer his opinion. "When people ask me what should be done, my stock answer is 'everything' — education, jobs, family, community. And law enforcement." Sorry, but I don't agree that such a statement makes him "part of the problem," such that he should "back off." There are plenty of others who are much more appropriate targets for your disdain.
I know all about mob action. There were many campus disturbances after the Kent shootings, and some of them became riots. On my own campus, most of those arrested were booked for "mob action"...and some for more serious offenses. I was grabbed and clocked by the state police, and later appeared in court on a "mob action" charge. (Hey, at least it wasn't arson, which can earn you hard time....and it could have been, for trying to torch a car).
ReplyDeleteMy father was not happy about my arrest, but he found me a good lawyer. My case was dismissed, and my record was also "expunged." Supposedly. I should exercise my FOIA rights and obtain my FBI file, but I always seem to be finding something else to do. And at 76, does it really matter anymore? Hell, 1970 was a long time ago.
Speaking of words being stretched beyond any useful meaning and context, in this case: Children. Never mind "baby".
ReplyDeleteI hate Catanzara and his ilk, and I'm not very fond of those, while closer to me on the political spectrum, who make themselves into useful idiots for Catanzaras of this world