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[Frumple]

... this is literally the first time I have ever seen that second meaning in my life. Just... throwing that out there.

[Lord Shonus]

... this is literally the first time I have ever seen that second meaning in my life. Just... throwing that out there.

Same here.

[Harry Baldman]

Tow the line = Going out of your way to be the utterly dedicated martyr of whatever idea is at hand.

That doesn't sound legit at all, but it did put this image in mind.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

It's not given voice to much, but it is 100% what people are thinking when they change toe to tow. The context of such statements often do not make sense for the original definition. When a thread gets libertarian-bombed, people aren't referring to said libertarian's party rigor, they're referring to them being the beleaguered godhead for Ayn Rand.

Descriptivism, ho!

[smjjames]

... this is literally the first time I have ever seen that second meaning in my life. Just... throwing that out there.

Never heard of that second meaning with 'tow the line' either.

[sluissa]

I've heard it used as if it's in that context, but I feel like it's ignorance of the original meaning that allows it to persist. You can call that evolution of the language if you want, but it really stems from a lack of knowledge.

"Toe the line" is the original meaning. "Tow the line", especially when used orally, is just confusing and makes you sound like a fool.

[Starver]

Meh, at least no one's saying 'could care less'.

I think it's a mute point, and this diversion just a damp squid.

[Dorsidwarf]

The only google results I can find for "tow the line" even with explicit quote on (without it on there's only 5 million results for "did you mean toe the line")
are from 2003.


And they're discussing how people use it incorrectly to describe politics because they dont understand etymology.

[Frumple]

Meh, at least no one's saying 'could care less'.

I'unno, I could care less pretty easily.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I've heard it used as if it's in that context, but I feel like it's ignorance of the original meaning that allows it to persist. You can call that evolution of the language if you want, but it really stems from a lack of knowledge.

"Toe the line" is the original meaning. "Tow the line", especially when used orally, is just confusing and makes you sound like a fool.

Virtually all evolution of language begins as corruption of a previous statement. It is laughably absurd to act as if linguistic meaning can or should be preserved, only the ideas behind the meaning of a word are important. Language is highly complex but equally lossy; this outcome is to be expected.

[Egan_BW]

I could care MUCH less than I do about people saying that they could care less.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Keep on edging on, Ispil. We'll all be sure to not trigger you and only speak the Queen's English, as the only language handed down by God Himself, in its eternal and objectively correct format.

[Frumple]

... seriously though, tow is a misspelling/typo. There hasn't been linguistic drift, there, it's just that no one uses the phrase that way. And that's okay. It's okay. Let's go back to actual politics instead of the politics of linguistic asspull :V

_{though on the flipside, that the politics of linguistic asspull's acronym could be PLA is somehow compelling}

[misko27]

@Iraq; ok now we definitely have a thread for that, AND it's not exactly in danger of being overrun by activity any time soon, AND because the thread is about US involvement it's directly relevant. We have scandals and incompetence to discuss in America, and Iraq deserves it's own thread (which is why it has one! Huzzah!).

That said it's not worth the hassle when we have more sexy Trump news to discuss.

And frankly it's hard to be in the business of Trump news. I mean there's so much of it! After I mention articles here I usually never mention the issue again here (unless it causes a discussion, of course) because by the time I would there's a new thing to talk about.

[palsch]

Another piece from WaPo on the Flynn saga.

Trump doesn't read, just watches TV. Here he cites an article that described the immigration order as "incompetent malevolence" because it was selectively quoted on Morning Joe. I strongly recommend the original along with the rest of Lawfare's coverage. Ben Wittes has been good on Twitter as well where he has been highlighting some of his most biting criticisms of Trump so far.

Breitbart got an interview with Sean Spicer. It rates an AV club review.

The crucial first interview after this ruling with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was given to the glorious official news outlet of the Trump administration, Breitbart News. Conducted by a boy in a suit named Charlie Spiering, it is a glorious two-minute comedy of errors, with production qualities rivaling the cringe-inducing crap cinema of Fateful Findings, A Talking Cat!?!, and even The Room. It is worth discussing in its entirety.

Youtube mirror in case the Facebook video doesn't work. It really is something else. Other highlights include Spicer getting the OLC's name wrong (Office of Legal Compliance rather than Counsel).