[Buddha-l] Buddhist stupa to be moved from NM Petroglyph Park

[Richard Hayes]

On Oct 2, 2012, at 4:44 AM, "Alex Wilding" <alex at chagchen.org> wrote:

> The Reverend Dr Hayes claimed:

Please, Master Wilding, call me by my official epithet, The Irreverent Doctor. Otherwise, you may confound the uneducated masses who attend my uneducated masses.

> A subjective expression of personal taste, of course.

Well, yes. I'm just trying to fit in with the prevailing culture of Buddha-l.

> In a subsequent post the good Doctor writes:
>> "Needless war" is a redundancy.
> While I sympathise deeply with the general sentiment behind this, it is not
> exactly true. I know that the Dr has far more knowledge of rhetoric than I
> do, and can probably tell us the name of this trick.

I know it as hyperbole, a form of irony used for comic effect. But I think there is a more precise name for this rhetorical figure. Perhaps Dr Peavler can help us. He's a native speaker of Chaucerian English.

> I only know it as "one
> bold claim is worth a dozen good arguments".

Yes, if it were not facetious, it would be a form of unwarranted assertion.

> Alex W MPhil (but my friends can just call me "Master")

At least you have friends. We Irreverent Doctors walk alone, like a rhinoceros horn, except when we can get Dr Peavler to sneak out for a veggie taco.

Dr Hayes, PhD
Chair, Department of Philosophy
Generic Swaggering Self-Important Queso Grande