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Irish Bull
An Irish bull is a ludicrous, incongruent or logically absurd statement, generally unrecognized as such by its author. The inclusion of the epithet ''Irish'' is a late addition. John Pentland Mahaffy, Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, observed, "an Irish bull is always pregnant", i.e. with truthful meaning. The "father" of the Irish bull is often said to be Sir Boyle Roche, who once asked "Why should we put ourselves out of our way to do anything for posterity, for what has posterity ever done for us?". Roche may have been Sheridan's model for Mrs Malaprop. Origin The derivation of "bull" in this sense is unclear. It may be related to Old French ''boul'' "fraud, deceit, trickery", Icelandic ''bull'' "nonsense", Middle English">Icelandic language">Icelandic ''bull'' "nonsense", Middle English ''bull'' "falsehood", or the verb ''bull'' "befool, mock, cheat". As the Oxford English Dictionary points out, the epithet "Irish" is a more recent addition, the original word ''bull'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure of arguments alone, independent of their topic and content. Informal logic is associated with informal fallacies, critical thinking, and argumentation theory. Informal logic examines arguments expressed in natural language whereas formal logic uses formal language. When used as a countable noun, the term "a logic" refers to a specific logical formal system that articulates a proof system. Logic plays a central role in many fields, such as philosophy, mathematics, computer science, and linguistics. Logic studies arguments, which consist of a set of premises that leads to a conclusion. An example is the argument from the premises "it's Sunday" and "if it's Sunday then I don't have to work" leading to the conclusion "I don't have to wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Pentland Mahaffy
Sir John Pentland Mahaffy (26 February 1839 – 30 April 1919) was an Irish classicist and polymathic scholar who served as the 34th Provost of Trinity College Dublin from 1914 to 1919. Early life and education He was born near Vevey in Switzerland on 26 February 1839, to Irish parents, Nathaniel Brindley Mahaffy and the former Elizabeth Pentland, receiving his early education privately in Switzerland and Germany, and later and more formally at Trinity College Dublin. As an undergraduate, he became President of the University Philosophical Society. He was List of Scholars of Trinity College Dublin, elected a scholar in 1857, graduated in classics and philosophy in 1859, and was elected a fellow in 1864. Academic career Mahaffy held a chair in Ancient History at Trinity from 1871, and eventually became List of Provosts of Trinity College Dublin, Provost in 1914, at the age of 75. He was a distinguished classicist and Papyrology, papyrologist as well as a Doctor of Music. He wrote ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boyle Roche
Sir Boyle Roche, 1st Baronet (October 1736, as cited in Some sources, including earlier versions of the ''Dictionary of National Biography'', give the date as 1743. However, since the later date would make Roche rather young to have served with such distinction – he would have been 15 at the Battle on Snowshoes (and already a lieutenant!), 16 at the Siege of Quebec and 19 at the capture of El Morro – the earlier date seems more reasonable. – 5 June 1807) was an Irish politician. After a distinguished career in North America with the British Army, Roche became a member of the Irish House of Commons in 1775, generally acting in support of the viceregal government. He is better remembered for the language of his speeches than for his politics – they were riddled with mixed metaphors ("Mr Speaker, I smell a rat; I see him forming in the air and darkening the sky; but I'll nip him in the bud"), malapropisms and other unfortunate turns of phrase ("Why we should put ourselves o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and Ilchester. The owner of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London, he wrote several prominent plays such as ''The Rivals'' (1775), '' The Duenna'' (1775), '' The School for Scandal'' (1777) and '' A Trip to Scarborough'' (1777). He served as Treasurer of the Navy from 1806 to 1807. Sheridan died in 1816 and was buried at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. His plays remain a central part of the Western canon and are regularly performed around the world. Early life Sheridan was born in 1751 in Dublin, Ireland, where his family had a house on the then fashionable Dorset Street. His mother, Frances Sheridan, was an Anglo-Irish playwright and novelist. She had two plays produced in London in the early 1760s, though she is best known for her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malapropism
A malapropism (; also called a malaprop, acyrologia or Dogberryism) is the incorrect use of a word in place of a word with a similar sound, either unintentionally or for comedic effect, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to baseball player Yogi Berra, regarding switch hitters, "He hits from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious", with the accidental use of '' amphibious'' rather than the intended '' ambidextrous''. Malapropisms often occur as errors in natural speech and are sometimes the subject of media attention, especially when made by politicians or other prominent individuals. Etymology The word "malapropism" (and its earlier form, "malaprop") comes from a character named "Mrs. Malaprop" in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1775 play '' The Rivals''. Mrs. Malaprop frequently misspeaks (to comic effect) by using words which do not have the meaning that she intends but which sound similar to words that do. Sheridan ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading newspaper. It is considered a newspaper of record for Ireland. Though formed as a Protestant Irish nationalist paper, within two decades and under new owners, it became a supporter of unionism in Ireland. In the 21st century, it presents itself politically as "liberal and progressive", as well as being centre-right on economic issues. The editorship of the newspaper from 1859 until 1986 was controlled by the Anglo-Irish Protestant minority, only gaining its first nominal Irish Catholic editor 127 years into its existence. The paper's notable columnists have included writer and arts commentator Fintan O'Toole and satirist Miriam Lord. The late Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald was once a columnist. Michael O'Regan was the Leinster Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old French
Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it was deemed no longer make to think of the varieties spoken in Gaul as Latin. Although a precise date can't be given, there is a general consensus (see Wright 1982, 1991, Lodge 1993) that an awareness of a vernacular, distinct from Latin, emerged at the end of the eighth century.] and mid-14th centuries. Rather than a unified Dialect#Dialect or language, language, Old French was a Dialect cluster, group of Romance languages, Romance dialects, Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible yet Dialect continuum, diverse. These dialects came to be collectively known as the , contrasting with the , the emerging Occitano-Romance languages of Occitania, now the south of France. The mid-14th century witnessed the emergence of Middle French, the lang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Icelandic Language
Icelandic ( ; , ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Since it is a West Scandinavian languages, West Scandinavian language, it is most closely related to Faroese language, Faroese, western Norwegian dialects, and the extinct language Norn language, Norn. It is not mutually intelligible with the continental Scandinavian languages (Danish language, Danish, Norwegian language, Norwegian, and Swedish language, Swedish) and is more distinct from the most widely spoken Germanic languages, English language, English and German language, German. The written forms of Icelandic and Faroese are very similar, but their spoken forms are not Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible. The language is more Linguistic conservatism, conservative than most other Germanic languages. While most of them hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English period. Scholarly opinion varies, but the University of Valencia states the period when Middle English was spoken as being from 1150 to 1500. This stage of the development of the English language roughly coincided with the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages. Middle English saw significant changes to its vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and orthography. Writing conventions during the Middle English period varied widely. Examples of writing from this period that have survived show extensive regional variation. The more standardized Old English literary variety broke down and writing in English became fragmented and localized and was, for the most part, being improvised. By the end of the period (about 1470), and aided by the movabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Quiet Man
''The Quiet Man'' is a 1952 American romantic comedy drama film directed and produced by John Ford, and starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen, Barry Fitzgerald, Arthur Shields and Ward Bond. The screenplay by Frank S. Nugent was based on a 1933 ''Saturday Evening Post'' short story of the same name by Irish author Maurice Walsh, later published as part of a collection titled ''The Green Rushes''. The film features Winton Hoch's lush photography of the Irish countryside and a long, climactic, semi-comic fist fight. The film was an official selection of the 1952 Venice Film Festival. John Ford won the Academy Award for Best Director, his fourth, and Winton Hoch won for Best Cinematography. In 2013, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Plot In the 1920s, Sean "Trooper Thorn" Thornton, an Irish-born American retired box ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yogi Berra
Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (born Lorenzo Pietro Berra; May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of Manager (baseball), manager and Coach (baseball), coach. He played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1946–1963, 1965), all but the last for the New York Yankees. He was an 18-time Major League Baseball All-Star Game, All-Star and won 10 World Series championships as a player—more than any other player in MLB history. Berra had a career batting average (baseball), batting average of .285, while hitting 358 home runs and 1,430 Run batted in, runs batted in. He is one of only six players to win the American League Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award, Most Valuable Player Award three times. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in baseball history" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was founded by Arthur B. Sleigh in 1855 as ''The Daily Telegraph and Courier''. ''The Telegraph'' is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The paper's motto, "Was, is, and will be", was included in its emblem which was used for over a century starting in 1858. In 2013, ''The Daily Telegraph'' and '' The Sunday Telegraph'', which started in 1961, were merged, although the latter retains its own editor. It is politically conservative and supports the Conservative Party. It was moderately liberal politically before the late 1870s.Dictionary of Nineteenth Century Journalismp 159 ''The Telegraph'' has had a number of news scoops, including the outbreak of World War II by rookie reporter Clare Hollingworth, described as "the scoop of the cent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
