Is it left to me to point out the idiocy of the expression "of all time" as in, for example, "the best Oscar dress of all time" or "the greatest president of all time"? How can we designate a winner when time itself is or has not yet finished? Although we can safely say that Donald Trump is the worst American president up to now, it is at least possible to imagine somebody worse than him in the future. Similarly, Queen Elizabeth II is generally acknowledged to be the best Queen of England so far, but we cannot altogether rule out the possibility that someone even better might come along one day. Is Pope Francis the best pope of all time?
Some have suggested that "All Time" actually refers to a place and not a period of time. But where is this place called All Time? And even if it could be shown to exist, the expression would have to be changed to in all time. We would have to say that Donald Trump is the worst president of and in all time
Some have suggested that "All Time" actually refers to a place and not a period of time. But where is this place called All Time? And even if it could be shown to exist, the expression would have to be changed to in all time. We would have to say that Donald Trump is the worst president of and in all time
Greetings Barnaby
ReplyDeleteWhat about Queen Boudica - she actually led a British or at least English, uprising against forces from the continent?!
Still QE II is up there with the best.
Hello Jerry. David Attenborough?
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