Friday 28 January 2011

Idioms, apophasis, paralypsis, proslipsis and ceasuras




I will never be of this calibre. Though as a card carrying, smile plagiarising 'Ye Olde Generalist' I notice he inadvertently invokes Wittgenstein's private language argument at 5.03. You can now enjoy that specific interpretation nicely transcribed via Youtube within this lecture. 

It's unusual that it's been transcribed given the length and youthful vintage of these lectures. In my experience, it's not a feature that world renowned quantum physicists can secure with their online Youtube presence; even with a hundred fold more views than the Prof has secured thus far. 

Maybe somebody realises he's contributing an historical analysis of history. That it's worthwhile to do this task promptly, as time is such a ruthless shredder of comprehension, context and nuance, when say scholarly Egyptology is peddling us informed opinion, in the early part of the 21st century. That's just one example.

Possibly it's just a great way (by his students?) to try and commit to memory the sheer scale and density of what this remarkable professor is able to linguistically retrieve, on-the-fly while loquaciously expounding on massively subtle different points. This is a talent I very much keep an eye open for given  the elegance that my (podcast) listening ear demands of me.

Go on. Listen to the first few minutes. Then get back to your copywriting or blogging or whatever. He's rather good.