[Mad Dawg]

Don't forget the "Parsing" Game. It goes like this:

1. You (or some document, or, more likely, some sentence wrenched out of context in some document) say something.
2. I misunderstand it, misconstrue it, misrepresent it, and use it to show some off the wall point about how vicious you are.
3. You explain how the meaning of words, syntax, and context preclude the bogus meaning assigned to the words by me.
4. I laugh heartily and say you are "parsing" and proclaim that soon you'll be discussing what the meaning of "is" is.
5. Onlookers congratulate me for my devastating rejoinder.

Parker Brothers will be coming out soon with the deluxe edition, with a copy of Fowler's Modern English Usage included.

[vladimir998]

You’re right.

It amazes me how Protestant anti-Catholics routinely seem think facts just don’t matter. One of my favorite examples of that is when they insist X proves Y, but they are too poorly schooled to know that Y came first, or that X never existed, or that they had nothing to do with one another. The inquisition was created to stop Protestants - except for that pesky little fact that it existed BEFORE Protestants. The crusades caused Muslims to hate us - except for that pesky little fact that the Muslims were already attacking Christians for more than 300 years BEFORE the crusades so they already seem to have hated us.

I love Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage by the way. I only wish I could buy a copy of the OED! Well, I can dream...