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Discussion Groups / English Usage / June 2008what does à fortiori mean?
Hello. I can't say i've ever understood the meaning of "à fortiori". Can anyone explain it? I know the dictionary defines it as "for an even stronger reason".. but can you just use it everything you want to substitute it for "an even stronger reason"? "This will apply à fortiori..." > Hello. > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > "This will apply à fortiori..." It is used where the proposition being deduced follows because it is a weaker case of a proposition already accepted as true. For example: We know that a dog is a mammal. Therefore, a fortiori, a dog is an animal. (The statement that a dog is a mammal is a stronger statement than the statement that it is merely an animal, since a dogs are a subset of animals.) Another example: You can't park your car here for more than 2 hours. Therefore, a fortiori, you can't leave it here all day. A more topical example: The US can't afford to pay for our military adventures in Iraq and Afganistan. A fortiori, we can't afford to become involved in additional military conflicts in addition to these. You might also try here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_fortiori  SignatureRoland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food. NB mail to my.spamtrap [at] verizon.net is heavily filtered to remove spam. If your message looks like spam I may not see it. > You can't park your car here for more than 2 hours. Therefore, a > fortiori, [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Afganistan. A fortiori, we can't afford to become involved in additional > military conflicts in addition to these. A note to the OP - there is no accent on the "a" - it is "a fortiori", being Latin rather than French or any modern language using accents. Roland's explanation is perfect. Think of it like algebra, but transferred to non-mathematical logic - if x is greater than y and y is greater than z, then a fortiori x is greater than than z. Regards Jonathan On Jun 29, 12:37 am, "Jonathan Morton" <jonat...@jonathanmortonbutignorethisbit.co.uk> wrote: > > You can't park your car here for more than 2 hours. Therefore, a > > fortiori, [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Jonathan Good fences make good neighbors. Barb Dwyer handles stolen jewelry efficiently. A fortiori, Barb Dwyer is a good neighbor (as well as being a good fence) -- no? -- Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego > On Jun 29, 12:37 am, "Jonathan Morton" > <jonat...@jonathanmortonbutignorethisbit.co.uk> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > A fortiori, Barb Dwyer is a good neighbor (as well as being a good > fence) -- no? Your conclusion is faulty: it should be, "Barb Dwyer makes good neighbors". With that correction, it's the syllogism in Barbara. > -- > Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego SignatureRoland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food. NB mail to my.spamtrap [at] verizon.net is heavily filtered to remove spam. If your message looks like spam I may not see it. > > On Jun 29, 12:37 am, "Jonathan Morton" > > <jonat...@jonathanmortonbutignorethisbit.co.uk> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Your conclusion is faulty: it should be, "Barb Dwyer makes good neighbors". So her list is like Santa's? I guess that explains it -- why she never even has eye contact with me. See if she ever gets any of *MY* syllogism! -- Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego Jynie wrote, in <48670cd5$0$13945$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au> on Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:19:48 +1000: > Hello. > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > "This will apply à fortiori..." No accent needed on the 'a' as the expression is Latin, not French. SignatureNick Spalding BrE/IrE |
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