Comments by amagnano

  • From dictionary.com:

    Mrs. Malaprop, a character in an eighteenth-century British comedy, The Rivals, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, constantly confuses words. Malapropisms are named after her.

    December 12, 2006

  • From Camille Paglia, "Crisis in The American Universities."

    Let me go on. I have a whole list here of reforms. I'm going to sound like Martin Luther! A couple of things. The abuse of language has got to stop. Throwing around words like racist and homophobic and so on. Now, homophobic has a specific psychological meaning. It means someone who's obsessed with homosexuality, so that you go out and maybe kill or maim someone who is homosexual because of your own inner fear that you may be having homosexual impulses. It's a true phobia. We cannot allow the word homophobic to be constantly used for anyone who says, "I don't like gay people" or "I think homosexuality is immoral, according to the Bible." We cannot be misusing this word.

    December 12, 2006