Observation e-mailed by Mr. Oscar Lagman, Forum follower (February 10, 2017):
Joe: I would like to point out a very clever way of name-calling without drawing harsh consequence from the subject maligned. DU 30 called Cesar Gaviria, former president of Colombia, “Idiot.” The
editorial of today’s Inquirer ends with this paragraph:
As is President Duterte’s wont, he reacted to the mirror of criticism dismissively, and reflexively used the language of insult he favors in public forums. “That idiot.”
With the clever choice of a punctuation mark—a period instead of a comma—the
Inquirer has called somebody powerful an idiot without drawing adverse consequence, unless the idiot’s men are sharp enough to have caught the trick shot.
My reply to Mr. Lagman:PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE COLUMBIA EX-PRESIDENT CESAR GAVIRIA
Philippine Daily Inquirer photos
Oscar, I’m not very sure that the
Inquirer’s editorial writer was being clever at all if he or she intended that play of punctuation as “a trick shot” to call President Rodrigo Duterte “an idiot” and expected to get away with the horrendous insult. I rather get the feeling that it was a sudden uncontrollable and imprudent burst of anger by a writer editorially, temperamentally, and actually intent of insulting President Duterte at every turn but couldn’t do so openly for fear of reprisal. The temptation to assume that nobody would be sharp enough to get the drift of that devious punctuation play—and I can tell you that there are many among the President’s inner circle and outside circle (you included, of course) who are English-savvy enough to see through that ruse—is the clearest indication that that editorial writer wasn’t clever enough in using that rather wily but translucent subterfuge. Now he or she has to face the possible worse onus of publicly admitting a most unfortunate oversight in not using the crucial colon (I think a comma isn’t adequate) instead of a period right before that angry quote: “That idiot.”
