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Brutal Antipathy is a pseudonym for a blogger and forum debate enthusiast whose views often rest well outside of social baseline. A self confirmed atheist, misanthropist, and sadist, his commentary ranges from parched textbook facts to satire and sarcasm. He is a proponent of free speech and individual liberty even when these are taken to excess. His political views shift between lower case libertarian and enlightened despotism depending on the level of contempt he is feeling for his fellow humans at any given moment. His reading interests include history, general science, archaeology, comparative religion, psychology, & sociology. Other interests and hobbies include practicing various crafts, torturing his slave, blogging, playing with his dogs, collecting antiques, role playing & tactical simulation games, renaissance fairs, and cheerfully making other people miserable by holding up a mirror of their shortcomings and repeatedly bashing them in the face with it. L is the owned slave of BA. She basically has the same interests and views as her owner except in music.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

The Homophobe Doth Protest too Much, Methinks

Firm Like a Midshipman Braced for Ramming from Behind, Freddie Prepares to Give a Sermon
Someone will probably think that I misparaphrased the title line. I didn't. The misquote is "Methinks the lady doth protest too much.". And while we today tend to use the quote to mean that someone is implying the negative so frequently and forcefully that we are inclined to believe the opposite of them, the word 'protest' in Shakespeare's time meant something a little different. Pro is to put forth or come before. Testari, the parent word of testify, meant just that. Combining the two, we get a meaning of 'protest' to signify putting forth ones testimony. The Lady stated her case too vigorously.  Shakespeare's protest was a positive assertion, while today it signifies a negative assertion. Another misconception is that testify and testicle are related, and that Romans used to swear oaths by clutching the other persons testicles. This really wasn't the case. The practice seems to stem from the Bible.