No More Nil Nisi Bonum? Countdown's Cheap Shots at Cap Weinberger

Countdown/NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[penowa]

"Olberman was a mediocre sportscaster at best"

One of the best things that ever happened to the NHL was Olbermann disappearing from the hockey scene IMO. I'm thrilled that he has migrated to PMSNBC where I never have to see him or hear another word from him.

[yarddog]

These people aren't fit to wipe the mud from Cap's shoes.

I really liked him and rightfully so.

[OldFriend]

The depravity of the left and their utter hatred of America has no bounds.

[clawrence3]

That is really sad. Interesting trivia from Wikipedia re: nil_nisi_bonum: "This expression is used in modern parlance with two almost contradictory significances. In legal contexts, it refers to the principle of British, American, and other legal systems that defaming a deceased person is not actionable. In colloquial contexts, it indicates that it is socially inappropriate to say anything negative about a (recently) deceased person. The first recorded use of the phrase is by Diogenes Laertius in The Lives and Opinions of the Eminent Philosophers, where he attributes it to Chilo." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_mortuis_nil_nisi_bonum

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Interesting. I was only aware of it in the second sense.

[Mo1]

I don't understand what makes a person speak ill of the dead. What possible reason could they have for doing it.

They are people who have lost their souls and are blinded with hatred

They are empty people inside

[scrabblehack]

"Nothing except good of the dead"

I don't see how the lawyer Latin definition quite fits.

[jazusamo]

[They are people who have lost their souls and are blinded with hatred]

Sadly, I suppose you are correct.

[scrabblehack]

From your Wikipedia article,
de mortuis nil nisi bonum dicendum est

Nil = nothing
nisi = except
bonum = good
dicendum est = future passive participle
A. "is to be said"
However this construction is usually translated as "must" as in "Carthago delenda est" ("Carthage must be destroyed.")
B. "must be said"
de = of
mortuis = the dead
I suppose it's just like an attorney to argue that whatever is said of a dead person is, by definition, "good."

[Junior]

Nil Nisi Bonum? Nothing but the ..?

[Behind Liberal Lines]

And, not to beat a dead horse, but it might be appropriate to mention that Olbermann went to Cornell, which is located in (wait for it)

Ithaca...the City of Evil.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Here she is - certainly a nice-looking lady

As Brian Newport said, "I'd rather sleep with a 'six' who agrees with me than a ten who doesn't."

[driftless]

"MSM sink any lower"

And of course libs don't hate the military. The unvarnished truth is that most libs do hate the military. I've lost count of the number of letters to the editor I've read by libs whining that money spent on the military should have been spent on the "poor" or some other lib cause du jour. I've never read one letter by a lib pleading for more money to spent on the military.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum: Of the dead speak kindly or not at all.

[Junior]

Thanks. The motto of CHINFO (Chief of Information -- I told y'all I was a Navy Journalist, right?) is Nil Nisi Verum, which I was told roughly translates as "Nothing but the Truth."

[scrabblehack]

"Nil" is the subject ("nothing")
"nisi bonum" is one prepositional phrase ("except good")
"dicendum est" is the verb ("must be said")
"de mortuis" is another prepositional phrase ("of the dead")