Louis XIV, J. Robert Oppenheimer, John F. Kennedy, and ...
Software developer Brian McNamara, whose claim to being my family’s most creative writer has gone undisputed since we were in high school, today sent me this amusing observational item that he authored. It will be best appreciated and perhaps only understood by football fans. The indulgence of others is requested.
The Curious Rhetorical Power of the First-Person Declarative Construction, Across Cultures and Time
By Brian McNamara
“L’Etat, c’est moi.”
— Louis XIV, in response to parliament’s questioning of his power
Literally: “I am the state.”
“I am become death.”
— J. Robert Oppenheimer, quoting the Bhagavad Gita, in response to viewing the first successful test of the atomic bomb
“Ich bin ein Berliner.”
— John F. Kennedy, in response to the Soviet walling of Berlin
Literally: “I am a Berliner.”
“Yo soy fiesta.”
— Robert Gronkowski, in response to a query about his expected reaction to a successful Super Bowl
Literally: “I am party.”
Go Pats.
