Ok, the phrase " Not nobody. Not nohow" somehow reaks of bad grammar Yes it does. The allusion, though, is to Wizard of Oz. Here's the quotation in its context (thanks to this site for the help) :
Dorothy: Your Majesty, if you were king, you wouldn't be afraid of anything?
Cowardly Lion: Not nobody! Not nohow!
Tin Woodsman: Not even a rhinoceros?
Cowardly Lion: Imposerous!
Dorothy: How about a hippopotamus?
Cowardly Lion: Why, I'd thrash him from top to bottomus!
Dorothy: Supposing you met an elephant?
Cowardly Lion: I'd wrap him up in cellophane!
Scarecrow: What if it were a brontosaurus?
Cowardly Lion: I'd show him who was king of the forest!
But, that is not the quotation I had in mind for today, one that dates to the very first year of this century. It comes from the Chronicle of Higher Education, September 14, 2001, “A BATTLE PLAN FOR PROFESSORS TO RECAPTURE THE CURRICULUM” CHRONICLE B7:
“As we enter the new century, society’s agreement on what defines an educated person, what constitutes essential knowledge and common discourse, has essentially collapsed. As a result, universities in the United States have a problem in the area of curriculum that has been widely recognized. Curriculum means, literally, a running track, but, in recent years, it has been called ‘a cafeteria with little indication of which are entrees and which the desserts” and “Dante’s definition of hell, where nothing connects to nothing.” (b7)
Do you agree? NOT Shimer, no how?
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