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PaperclipPerfector  24d ago (text post)   34277 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 28, 2024

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Suppose Alice is having a picnic at the pond with her parents. Her parents are clumsy eaters, and their plates and utensils get blown into the pond. A local cop sees the trash floating in the pond and asks Alice, “why did you dump your garbage in the pond?” Alice replies, “The only garbage I see floating out there is my parents’.” This is a completely normal way to use possessives in colloquial American English. It’s not the most likely interpretation of what Biden said, but it is a reasonable interpretation.

For that to be a reasonable interpretation, there would already have to be a referent to "hatred" or another idea. Instead, the referent is to Puerto Ricans, "people." I know what people are trying to twist it into, but it's obviously not what he said.

"They [Puerto Ricans] are good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see out there is his supporters."

There is already reference to an idea, the 'garbage' - as in the garbage his supporter(s) are putting out. Put without using an apostrophe, 'the only garbage I see floating out there is that of his supporters'. As above not saying this actually is definitely what he said, but it's definitely not impossible.

Have you listened to the clip and do you actually believe that's what he meant?

The tonal context of the statement says exactly what he meant.

I think the intonation is definitely consistent with "the only garbage I see out there is his supporters'", as in the garbage of his supporters in terms of rhetoric in reference to Puerto Rico or just generally.

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