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Let's create a word for force initation against adults who haven't harmed others

Started by Dave Ridley, December 07, 2006, 03:23 PM NHFT

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Dave Ridley

It is kind of hard to define what we are against in less than ten words.  This probably hampers us in debate and facilitates misunderstanding.  I think we need to create a word which  describes the thing we all oppose.

So here's a rough go at it:


sprag [rhyming with brag] (verb):

1) To initiate force against an adult who has not clearly harmed or endangered others, or who has done so only with their informed consent.
2) To delegate such an initiation of force, usually to a government

Suggested alternate forms:  spraggery (noun), spragging (adverb) spragged (past), spragger, spraggart

Thoughts?  Suggested improvements?   I like the word sprag because it is short and rhymes with fragg, thus having some of the same negative connotations.

Once we get this refined we can submit it to the wiktionary and the wikipedia, then we can just go out and start using it.



Rocketman

Spraggadelic spraggialadocious!   ;D

Seriously Dada, we can't make up words -- the English language was handed down by God to Noah Webster on stone tablets.   >:D

(Um, would saying "Go sprag yourself!" be considered an initiation of force?)

Jason Rand

Dada, do you really think we need another word for initiation of force, or are you just trying to create some wikibait for viral marketing?

Tom Sawyer


cathleeninnh


Dave Ridley

currently there is no word for initiation of force, only the phrase.  and in any case the phrase "initiation of force" doesn't really cover all the bases anyway.

Can anyone think of a better word for it than sprag?  This is your big chance guys; not often you get to create a word.  


Kat Kanning

Edited-your-subject-line-because-long-words-in-title-screw-up-the-forum-layout-for-some-people.

Brock

Aggress doesn't cut it?

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1)
ag?gress /??gr?s/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[uh-gres]   
?verb (used without object)
1.   to commit the first act of hostility or offense; attack first.
2.   to begin to quarrel.
?verb (used with object)
3.   to behave aggressively toward; attack (often fol. by upon): wild animals aggressing their prey.
[Origin: 1565?75; < L aggressus (ptp. of aggred? to attack), equiv. to ag- ag- + gred- (see grade) + -tus ptp. suffix]

American Heritage Dictionary
ag?gress   (?-gr?s')     
intr.v.   ag?gressed, ag?gress?ing, ag?gress?es
To initiate an attack, war, quarrel, or fight: "America . . . guaranteed that no EC state would aggress against another" (John J. Mearsheimer).
[French agresser, from Latin aggred?, aggress-, to attack : ad-, ad- + grad?, to go; see ghredh- in Indo-European roots.]

Rocketman

Sprag not, lest ye be spragged.   ;D

I think "aggress" means the same thing; it's rarely used, but resuscitating a seldom-used form of a common word is a lot easier than creating a new one.  Also, I fear that if free staters start going around saying "sprag" all the time, we will contribute to the already-somewhat-popular notion that we're a bunch of space cadets.

Plus, "aggress" connects directly with "aggression," the word used in ZAP/NAP (not to mention Brian Wright's SNAP, or "Sacred NonAggression Principle").


Tom Sawyer

Quote from: Rocketman on December 07, 2006, 05:43 PM NHFT
...the already-somewhat-popular notion that we're a bunch of space cadets.

You should know of such things. ;)

Rocketman

She packed my bags last night pre-flight
Zero hour nine a.m.
And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then
I miss the earth so much I miss my wife
It's lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight

And I think it's gonna be a long long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh no no no I'm a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone


Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact it's cold as hell
And there's no one there to raise them if you did
And all this science I don't understand
It's just my job five days a week
A rocket man, a rocket man


And I think it's gonna be a long long time...

Rocketman

Good tune, Roger, but my screen name is actually an obscure literary reference.  It has nothing to do with Sir Elton, everything to do with Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow.

The book is virtually unreadable for at least 99% of the population, and you'd have to wade through over half of the 900+ pages to get to the part where Lt. Tyrone Slothrop becomes "Rocketman," so the reference is hardly worth chasing down unless you're a total masochist.   ;D

aries

sprag (spr?g)
n.
A piece of wood or metal wedged beneath a wheel or between spokes to keep a vehicle from rolling.
A pointed stake lowered at an angle into the ground from a vehicle to prevent movement.
A prop to support a mine roof.

Already a word.

Could become a secondary definition

Caleb

"Killing is bad ... and wrong.  There should be a new, stronger word for killing like ... badwrong ... or ... badong.  YES!  Killing is badong!"  ;D

error

+1 for Dave. You've hit on exactly the problem: People don't understand what the hell we're talking about most of the time.

I don't know if making up a word is going to solve the problem, though at the moment I haven't fully formulated a better idea.