The etherealization of the word "curb"

The word "curb" has a perfectly clear physical meaning, especially when it is used as a noun. "I just ran over the curb" means "I just ran over the strip of raised asphalt on the edge of the road and the limit of my yard."

The experience likely gave the speaker of that sentence an unpleasant bumping sensation, increased maintenance cost for his car and at least one tire, and should deter him from repeating whatever turn or inattention caused the run-in. That, at least, is a key reason why the curb is there.

Of course "curb" can also be used less physically. Perhaps one might say metaphorically, but I'm not sure "metaphor" is really the right word.

"Republicans elected to Congress in 1946 were devoted to placing new curbs on the power of labor unions."

There is also the verb use, "please curb your enthusiasm for this diner -- the food here is going to kill you." A recent television show was built around that verb use of the word.

The point? Just that language is fascinating and that there are words and phrases we may on one level consider "metaphorical" that, really, aren't. More of an etherealization than a metaphor.

Excuse me if this seems dashed off quickly. I'm preparing my annual series of posts on the recently concluded Supreme Court term. Those will be workhorse posts!

Comments

A Story About Coleridge

This is a quote from a memoir by Dorothy Wordsworth, reflecting on a trip she took with two famous poets, her brother, William Wordsworth, and their similarly gifted companion, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. We sat upon a bench, placed for the sake of one of these views, whence we looked down upon the waterfall, and over the open country ... A lady and gentleman, more expeditious tourists than ourselves, came to the spot; they left us at the seat, and we found them again at another station above the Falls. Coleridge, who is always good-natured enough to enter into conversation with anybody whom he meets in his way, began to talk with the gentleman, who observed that it was a majestic waterfall. Coleridge was delighted with the accuracy of the epithet, particularly as he had been settling in his own mind the precise meaning of the words grand, majestic, sublime, etc., and had discussed the subject with William at some length the day before. “Yes, sir,” says Coleridge, “it is a maj...

Searle: The Chinese Room

John Searle has become the object of accusations of improper conduct. These accusations even have some people in the world of academic philosophy saying that instructors in that world should try to avoid teaching Searle's views. That is an odd contention, and has given rise to heated exchanges in certain corners of the blogosphere. At Leiter Reports, I encountered a comment from someone describing himself as "grad student drop out." GSDO said: " This is a side question (and not at all an attempt to answer the question BL posed): How important is John Searle's work? Are people still working on speech act theory or is that just another dead end in the history of 20th century philosophy? My impression is that his reputation is somewhat inflated from all of his speaking engagements and NYRoB reviews. The Chinese room argument is a classic, but is there much more to his work than that?" I took it upon myself to answer that on LR. But here I'll tak...

Five Lessons from the Allegory of the Cave

Please correct me if there are others. But it seems to be there are five lessons the reader is meant to draw from the story about the cave. First, Plato is working to devalue what we would call empiricism. He is saying that keeping track of the shadows on the cave wall, trying to make sense of what you see there, will NOT get you to wisdom. Second, Plato is contending that reality comes in levels. The shadows on the wall are illusions. The solid objects being passed around behind my back are more real than their shadows are. BUT … the world outside the the cave is more real than that — and the sun by which that world is illuminated is the top of the hierarchy. So there isn’t a binary choice of real/unreal. There are levels. Third, he equates realness with knowability. I only have opinions about the shadows. Could I turn around, I could have at least the glimmerings of knowledge. Could I get outside the cave, I would really Know. Fourth, the parable a...

Jamesian Philosophy Refreshed

Search This Blog