Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
or so the thinking went
141 views
Skip to first unread message
fate
May 24, 2013, 7:01:26 PM5/24/13
to
"Yet confusion between the two has led some to believe that since natural selection is a cruel, pitiless process of elimination it must produce cruel and pitiless creatures. A nasty process must produce nasty behavior, or so the thinking went".
What is the meaning of "or so the thinking went". Is it a commonly used phrase?
Thanks,
Leslie Danks
May 24, 2013, 7:12:42 PM5/24/13
to
fate wrote:
>
>
>
> "Yet confusion between the two has led some to believe that since natural
> selection is a cruel, pitiless process of elimination it must produce
> cruel and pitiless creatures. A nasty process must produce nasty behavior,
> or so the thinking went".
>
>
>
> What is the meaning of "or so the thinking went".
"Or that is what people thought." "So" means "in this way". The implication
>
>
>
> "Yet confusion between the two has led some to believe that since natural
> selection is a cruel, pitiless process of elimination it must produce
> cruel and pitiless creatures. A nasty process must produce nasty behavior,
> or so the thinking went".
>
>
>
> What is the meaning of "or so the thinking went".
is that they were wrong in what they thought.
> Is it a commonly used phrase?
--
Les (BrE)
"... be skeptical of government guidelines. The Indians learned not to trust
our government and neither should you." (Fallon & Enig)
fate
May 24, 2013, 7:19:36 PM5/24/13
to
Horace LaBadie
May 24, 2013, 7:25:58 PM5/24/13
to
In article <db5808ee-a9ea-4413...@googlegroups.com>,
That is how the argument was expressed or formulated at that time.
It is a common phrase. It is generally used to suggest that the argument
has been discredited since the time in which it was propounded and
accepted. We can see the error, because we have since learned more about
the subject.
It is a common phrase. It is generally used to suggest that the argument
has been discredited since the time in which it was propounded and
accepted. We can see the error, because we have since learned more about
the subject.
Swifty
May 25, 2013, 4:59:42 AM5/25/13
to
On 25/05/2013 00:19, fate wrote:
> Now it makes sense to me
I think you can generalise the phrase to:
> Now it makes sense to me
... or so the [gerund] went.
However, because of the implication of error, you should probably apply
it only to activities which can be erroneous.
I've just realised that you can use a none in there also:
... so my investment decisions went.
--
Steve Swift
http://www.swiftys.org.uk/
fate
May 28, 2013, 11:41:09 AM5/28/13
to
Does the same rule apply to the sentence "so life went" in the sentence below?
Does it mean, so that is what life was although leading such a life was wrong?
Instinctively, his hand made sure of the leather satchel on the
seat by his side. A tiny stab of regret touched his heart. Foolish,
Edvard, truly it is. For the satchel, a gift from his first contact at
the French embassy in Warsaw, had a false bottom, beneath
which lay a sheaf of engineering diagrams. Well, he thought,
one did what one had to do, so life went. No, one did what one
had to do in order to do what one wanted to do – so life really
went.
Thanks,
fate
CDB
May 29, 2013, 8:04:13 AM5/29/13
to
On 28/05/2013 11:41 AM, fate wrote:
clause. The implication of error here seems to me to come from the
implied disclaimer: "So they thought, but I make no such assertion."
>> ... so my investment decisions went.
decisions; the inverted word-order probably favours the first
interpretation.
> Does the same rule apply to the sentence "so life went" in the
> sentence below? Does it mean, so that is what life was although
> leading such a life was wrong?
I think the implication here is one of resignation, which further
implies that the way it goes could be better. "Life is perverse -- it
can be beautiful, but it won't." (L. Tomlin)
> Instinctively, his hand made sure of the leather satchel on the seat
> by his side. A tiny stab of regret touched his heart. Foolish,
> Edvard, truly it is. For the satchel, a gift from his first contact
> at the French embassy in Warsaw, had a false bottom, beneath which
> lay a sheaf of engineering diagrams. Well, he thought, one did what
> one had to do, so life went. No, one did what one had to do in order
> to do what one wanted to do � so life really went.
It's a pretty common pattern, in one form or another. "And so it goes"
was a catch-phrase in a Vonnegut novel (Slaughterhouse-Five*? Great
movie too), and a popular song of Billy Joel's in 1980.
The King's Singers did it. Not their best work, IMO. Tiny sample:
http://www.last.fm/music/The+King%27s+Singers/_/And+So+It+Goes
__________________________
*Some relevant comments in the "Criticism" section of the Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse-Five
> Swifty wrote:
>> fate wrote:
>>> Now it makes sense to me
>> I think you can generalise the phrase to:
>> ... or so the [gerund] went.
>> However, because of the implication of error, you should probably
>> apply
>> it only to activities which can be erroneous.
>> I've just realised that you can use a none in there also:
"Thinking" is a kind of noun. You really need one for the subject of a
>> fate wrote:
>>> Now it makes sense to me
>> I think you can generalise the phrase to:
>> ... or so the [gerund] went.
>> However, because of the implication of error, you should probably
>> apply
>> it only to activities which can be erroneous.
>> I've just realised that you can use a none in there also:
clause. The implication of error here seems to me to come from the
implied disclaimer: "So they thought, but I make no such assertion."
>> ... so my investment decisions went.
> Can we paraphrase the sentence "so my investment decisions went" as
> so that is what my investment decisions were, but they were wrong?
It could mean that, or could be just a statement that those were your
> so that is what my investment decisions were, but they were wrong?
decisions; the inverted word-order probably favours the first
interpretation.
> Does the same rule apply to the sentence "so life went" in the
> sentence below? Does it mean, so that is what life was although
> leading such a life was wrong?
implies that the way it goes could be better. "Life is perverse -- it
can be beautiful, but it won't." (L. Tomlin)
> Instinctively, his hand made sure of the leather satchel on the seat
> by his side. A tiny stab of regret touched his heart. Foolish,
> Edvard, truly it is. For the satchel, a gift from his first contact
> at the French embassy in Warsaw, had a false bottom, beneath which
> lay a sheaf of engineering diagrams. Well, he thought, one did what
> one had to do, so life went. No, one did what one had to do in order
It's a pretty common pattern, in one form or another. "And so it goes"
was a catch-phrase in a Vonnegut novel (Slaughterhouse-Five*? Great
movie too), and a popular song of Billy Joel's in 1980.
The King's Singers did it. Not their best work, IMO. Tiny sample:
http://www.last.fm/music/The+King%27s+Singers/_/And+So+It+Goes
__________________________
*Some relevant comments in the "Criticism" section of the Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse-Five
0 new messages