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"Re" words: Resemblance, recollection, recognition

whitefork

None of the above
whitefork
Joined
Aug 6, 2001
Messages
2,326
CWL's signature line is provoking:

"All that which resembles truth is not true"

can we conclude that there are true things that appear to be untrue?

What is the nature of that resemblance by which the apparant truth appears to be true?

Indeed, what is resemblance? Is it some kind of species of seeming, and if so, what's the function of the "re" prefix?

Recognition = the act of cognizing once again

Recollection = tying things up one more time

One of the difficulties in analysis is that we are tempted to take words apart to see what meaning they contain. In so many cases, the meaning of the word doesn't bear a lot of relation to the meaning of the components.

"Substance" - that which exists or stands underneath something else (that which underlies what appears, for example).

"Existence" - that which stands forth from something else.

Words don't always mean what their origins would imply. Sometimes, they may not mean anything at all.
 
For some reason I am reminded of Jack Winter's How I Met My Wife.

It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate.

I was furling my wieldy umbrella for the coat check when I saw her standing alone in a corner. She was a descript person, a woman in a state of total array. Her hair was kempt, her clothing shevelled, and she moved in a gainly way...
Click to expand...
 
One of the words born out of the space age has always bugged me..


" Re - entry "


It goes out.. It comes back. Where's the " Re " ?


It seems that " return ", would have worked nicely..
 
Kullervo said:
CWL's signature line is provoking:

"All that which resembles truth is not true"
Click to expand...

I always liked the line. It is taken from a 16-th century Swedish code of guidlines for judges and has to do with the evaluation of evidence. Essentially, the statement underlines that a judge must be a skeptic. For instance, a claim by a seemingly realiable witness may appear to be true ("resemble truth") but it is not necessarily so.

The translation in the sig is my own. The original line is (with modern Swedish spelling) "Det är icke allt sant som är sanning likt" which could also be translated into "All that looks like truth is not true".

"Likt" is a form of the verb "likna" (cp. Eng. "likeness") which means "to resemble" or "to look like".

I chose "resembled" because I thought it sounded more solemn, which I felt was appropriate in the context.
 
So, what are other words related to LIKT in Swedish? In English, we'd have SEEM, SEMBLANCE, SAME (I believe), RESEMBLE, and a host of others. The sem- prefix is quite ancient, going back to early Indo-european roots according to the dictionary. English "seems" to have stolen it from Old Norse....
 
Kullervo said:
So, what are other words related to LIKT in Swedish? In English, we'd have SEEM, SEMBLANCE, SAME (I believe), RESEMBLE, and a host of others. The sem- prefix is quite ancient, going back to early Indo-european roots according to the dictionary. English "seems" to have stolen it from Old Norse....
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Hmmm... if SAME belongs in the category (and I suspect that it does) I offer you Sw. SAMMA which means "the same".

SAM- is a common prefix in Swedish which is used to indicate togetherness:

SAMLAS = to gather (cp. the latine derivative "assembly")
SAMLING = gathering, colleciton
SAMLAG = intercourse
SAMLIV = co-existence, life together (used for couples) (cp "same" and "life")
SAMHÄLLE = society
SAMBO = live-in partner
SAMTAL = conversation

etc.
 
Kullervo:
can we conclude that there are true things that appear to be untrue?

What is the nature of that resemblance by which the apparant truth appears to be true?
Click to expand...

Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem.
 
CWL said:


I always liked the line. It is taken from a 16-th century Swedish code of guidlines for judges and has to do with the evaluation of evidence. Essentially, the statement underlines that a judge must be a skeptic. For instance, a claim by a seemingly realiable witness may appear to be true ("resemble truth") but it is not necessarily so.

The translation in the sig is my own. The original line is (with modern Swedish spelling) "Det är icke allt sant som är sanning likt" which could also be translated into "All that looks like truth is not true".

"Likt" is a form of the verb "likna" (cp. Eng. "likeness") which means "to resemble" or "to look like".

I chose "resembled" because I thought it sounded more solemn, which I felt was appropriate in the context.
Click to expand...
Should it maybe be translated as "Not all that which resembles truth is true"? Your translation, "All that which resembles truth is not true", seems to imply that everything that looks true, isn't - i.e. something has to look like a lie for it to be true!

(Or am I just missing something?)

edited for ssurfeit of esssess
 
Mendor said:
Should it maybe be translated as "Not all that which resembles truth is true"? Your translation, "All that which resembles truth is not true", seems to imply that everything that looks true, isn't - i.e. something has to look like a lie for it to be true!

(Or am I just missing something?)

edited for ssurfeit of esssess
Click to expand...

You are 100 % correct. There is indeed the danger of such a misleading/unwanted interpretation without that little subtle "not" in the right place. Thank you for that! :)

(As you will notice I have changed my sig accordingly.)
 
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