Friday, August 10, 2012

Recant/ Postdon't


My question for today is it possible to recant? When you separate the word parts the prefix re-(to do over) coupled with the verb and its negation, cant (contraction-can not)leaves an impossibility. How can you re-do, what you couldn't do in the beginning? 
Two things in mind here. Galileo, a proponent of the concept that the sun was the center of our universe had to reverse himself in the face of political pressure. The rancher, who discovered the flying saucer in Roswell, had to come back to the papers three hours later and say, "It was only a weather balloon". Looks to me like a Black Swan(the Impact of the HIGHLY IMPROBABLE).




2 comments:

ColleenQ said...

Not that I don't love some linguistic logic, but I believe 'cant' is jargon, or talk so I think recant would be to take words back. It would be fun, however, to add contractions and Latin. Postdon't: what your kid does after you tell them not to.

I CAN'T believe how much I love these photos I've never seen. Gems! And is Bill smirking? Too cool.

Tony said...

Colleen: Don't you just love the word attack game!
Mayhap, I will begin using Postdon't as it covers an area not covered in our daily linguistic layer.
I got that picture from Denise. I too love the look on Bill's face, like internal mirth. Not an expression he usually displayed.