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To the other commentor below (no idea why I can't reply): Okay, I'll play along. Here's part of that quote, "is there a way..." When someone merely asks if th
by stronglikedan 7y ago
To the other commentor below (no idea why I can't reply):
Okay, I'll play along. Here's part of that quote, "is there a way..."
When someone merely asks if there's a way, I don't interpret that as them suggesting anything, since a question isn't a suggestion.
- klyrs 7y agoYou see a person pushing on a door, and it won't open. You say "have you tried pulling?" A rhetorical question can, in fact, be a suggestion. https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/319030/should-a-suggestion-have-a-question-mark https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/319030/should-a-...
- ModernMech 7y agoIt appears that your charitable "good faith" interpretation is in fact wrong, as Trump now claims he was sarcastically asking the question to rile up reporters: "I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen" https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-coronavirus-inject-disinfectant-quote-a9483151.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politic... So for all this talk about examining context and intentionally interpreting the President's comments in an unfavorable light, he was in fact being disingenuous and sarcastic. He wasn't "merely" asking a question. He was trolling. BTW, this is why people are so eager to not take him at face value.
- stronglikedan 7y agoYeah I saw that. Lol. Doesn't dismiss or invalidate my previous interpretation, but it is indeed no longer my current interpretation.