I was most perturbed, indignant even - to find such a grammatical error contained in the daily changing 'Quote of the Day'
'My dear friend, clear your mind of cant.'
Particularly peeved, as the author of the quote to which they referred was no less than Samuel Johnson
(from Wiki: "Dr Johnson was an English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer.
Johnson has been described as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history".)
How dare they sully the widely respected reputation of this literary icon, I thought, with such an unforgiveable folly (to miss out the apostrophe in the word can't ?
Indeed, such was my ire, I was all set and ready to have a right go at the compilers of 'Quote of the Day' , pointing out their disgraceful error ....
Luckily, before going through with my stick-wielding rant, I remembered that the word 'cant' had another meaning and, after looking up further - found an extra definition which up until now I had not been aware of. That meaning, for sure, is what the [correctly quoted] quote today refers to.
Ah well ..... you learn something every day.
and business as usual for Quote of the Day.
(btw - for those who might not be aware - you can click into the link of the named author of the quote each day to find out more quotes from that particular named person)
'My dear friend, clear your mind of cant.'
Particularly peeved, as the author of the quote to which they referred was no less than Samuel Johnson
(from Wiki: "Dr Johnson was an English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer.
Johnson has been described as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history".)
How dare they sully the widely respected reputation of this literary icon, I thought, with such an unforgiveable folly (to miss out the apostrophe in the word can't ?
Indeed, such was my ire, I was all set and ready to have a right go at the compilers of 'Quote of the Day' , pointing out their disgraceful error ....
Luckily, before going through with my stick-wielding rant, I remembered that the word 'cant' had another meaning and, after looking up further - found an extra definition which up until now I had not been aware of. That meaning, for sure, is what the [correctly quoted] quote today refers to.
noun: cant
1. hypocritical and sanctimonious talk, typically of a moral, religious, or political nature.
"he had no time for the cant of the priests about sin"
synonyms: hypocrisy, sanctimoniousness, sanctimony, humbug, pietism, affected piety, insincerity, sham, lip service, empty talk, pretence;
More rare Pharisaism, Tartufferie
"religious cant"
antonyms: sincerity
2. language specific to a particular group or profession and regarded with disparagement.
"thieves' cant"
synonyms: slang, jargon, idiom, argot, patter, patois, vernacular, speech, terminology, language;
More informal lingo, -speak, -ese
"thieves' cant"
denoting a phrase or catchword temporarily current or in fashion.
modifier noun: cant
"‘herstories’ rather than ‘histories’ as the cant phrase goes"
verb
dated
verb: cant; 3rd person present: cants; past tense: canted; past participle: canted; gerund or present participle: canting
1. talk hypocritically and sanctimoniously about something.
"if they'd stop canting about ‘honest work’ they might get somewhere"
Origin
early 16th century: probably from Latin cantare ‘to sing’ (see chant). The early meaning was ‘musical sound, singing’; in the mid 17th century this gave rise to the senses ‘whining manner of speaking’ and ‘form of words repeated mechanically in such a manner’ (for example a beggar's plea), hence ‘jargon’ (of beggars and other such groups).
cant2
kant/
verb
verb: cant; 3rd person present: cants; past tense: canted; past participle: canted; gerund or present participle: canting
1. have or cause to have a slanting or oblique position; tilt.
"he canted his head to look at the screen"
synonyms: tilt, lean, slant, slope, incline, angle, be at an angle;
More
tip, list, bank, heel
"the deck canted some twenty degrees"
(of a ship) swing round.
"the ship canted to starboard"
synonyms: tilt, lean, slant, slope, incline, angle, be at an angle; More
tip, list, bank, heel
"the deck canted some twenty degrees"
noun
noun: cant; plural noun: cants
1. a slope or tilt.
"the outward cant of the curving walls"
synonyms: slope, slant, tilt, angle, inclination
"the outward cant of the curving walls"
2. a wedge-shaped block of wood, especially one remaining after the better-quality pieces have been cut off.
"a squared-off cant remains, containing the knottiest wood"
Origin
Middle English (denoting an edge or brink): from Middle Low German kant, kante, Middle Dutch cant ‘point, side, edge’, based on a Romance word related to medieval Latin cantus ‘corner, side’.
Cant.
abbreviation
symbol: Cant.
Canticles (the Song of Songs) (in biblical references).
Ah well ..... you learn something every day.
and business as usual for Quote of the Day.
(btw - for those who might not be aware - you can click into the link of the named author of the quote each day to find out more quotes from that particular named person)