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    No such word as 'cant ' ... or is there ...?

    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    No such word as 'cant ' ...  or is there ...? Empty No such word as 'cant ' ... or is there ...?

    Post by Kitkat Sat 10 Jan 2015, 13:44

    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.'   angry

    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.   giggle

    study  
    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. rabbit

    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)

      Current date/time is Thu 28 Mar 2024, 17:58