5 ms·
I am assuming you are referring to Nick Clegg. The British are very easy to cow and bankrupt thanks to egregious libel laws that put the burden of proof on the
by fmajid 4mo ago
I am assuming you are referring to Nick Clegg. The British are very easy to cow and bankrupt thanks to egregious libel laws that put the burden of proof on the defendant. They also have super injunctions allowing wrongdoers like Trafigura to silence whistleblowers and journalists.
- nerdsniper 4mo ago> egregious libel laws Apparently you can get off scot-free in Britain even if you say/write things that are generally considered defamation per se as long as you claim that you utilized the "JDART" strategy: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50695593 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50695593 JDART: "Joke that was badly received, therefore Deleted, with an Apology and then Responsive Tweets to move on from the matter."
- paulryanrogers 4mo agoThat ... doesn't seem like it would help journalists or whistleblowers who are trying to bring serious attention to problems.
- microgpt 4mo agoGen Z/Alpha use irony to convey serious stuff a lot more than previous generations. I could see a serious message being conveyed by irony and explained as irony in court.
- gerdesj 4mo ago[flagged]
- mjrbrennan 4mo agoIt’s definitely usable as a verb, see https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cow https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cow
- erpellan 4mo agoMost British people don’t respond well to attempts to cow them. They refuse to be cowed! To allow oneself to be cowed would be cowardly. To do so would have one accused of cowardice, of being a coward.
- fmajid 4mo agoSadly the UK is a favorite venue for oligarchs looking to silence critics, with feral law firms like Carter Ruck specializing in this tawdry business. In the UK, the losing party usually pays the legal costs of the winning one, and libel litogation can cost millions, far exceeding whatever damages are awarded. Few newspapers or publishers can afford to defend such lawsuits.
- fmajid 4mo agoI checked and apparently they have different etymologies, the verb "to cow" is from old Norse "kúga", to oppress), whereas "coward" comes from Old French "couard".
- gerdesj 4mo agoYou are playing with language badly. The three letters c-o-w sometimes end up close to each other in English but they don't mean a literal cow (moo)! You might examine, say: coworker. A word I never use (because I'm a Brit) but it looks to me like cow-orker.
- nkrisc 4mo agohttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cow https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cow See the second definition. It’s not a common usage these days, but it’s absolutely valid, though probably unknown to most ESL folks.
- gerdesj 4mo ago"informal, disparaging + offensive : an unpleasant, annoying, or vacuous woman cowy ˈkau̇-ē adjective" That seems rather parochial (and misogynistic). Have you ever heard or said "cowy" yourself?
- fmajid 4mo agoI am not responsible for your incomplete grasp of the English language.
- gerdesj 4mo agoNo you are not but what is your point?
- Brian_K_White 4mo agoWell, considering their usage was in fact both correct and perfectly common, and considering that you have set the tone yourself that insulting people is ok by opening with doing it yourself, you surely cannot possibly be anything but fine with it being open season on pointing out how freaking ignorant that was eh?
- gerdesj 4mo agoStirring an alphabet soup is not a form of argument.
- hamburglar 4mo ago> Cow is not a verb Are you cowed yet?