August 20, 2015

"Trump waxed on almost poetically about the wall that could bear his name on the Southwest border."

Writes Noah Bierman, awkwardly, in the L.A. Times.
“I want it to be so beautiful because maybe someday they're going to call it the Trump wall,” he said.
I don't know what's poetic or almost poetic about that, but one doesn't wax on poetically. One waxes poetic.

The verb "wax" means to grow, increase, or become. You become an adjective, not an adverb. From the OED draft additions of 2006:
intr. To speak or write (increasingly) in the manner specified; esp. in to wax lyrical, to wax eloquent...
Historical examples in the OED: "he gallant colonel then gallantly waxed eloquent in praise of women" (1842), "He had the genius of taste except at certain moments when the Massenet slumbering in the heart of every Frenchman awoke and waxed lyrical" (1911).

My favorite "wax" quote is from the Marx Brothers ("Horse Feathers"):
Wagstaff's Receptionist: Oh, Professor, the Dean of Science wants to know how soon you can see him. He says he's tired of cooling his heels out here.

Professor Wagstaff: Tell him I'm cooling a couple of heels in here....

Wagstaff's Receptionist: The Dean is furious! He's waxing wroth!

Professor Wagstaff: Is Roth out there, too? Tell Roth to wax the Dean for a while.

26 comments:

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I hope that when he waxed on, he did so with his left hand, in clockwise circles. Waxing off would be done with the right hand, in counter-clockwise circles.

Bay Area Guy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chris N said...

Time to stop waxing journalistic.

Laslo Spatula said...

Poetic waxing is plausible.

Poetic anal bleaching is not.

I am Laslo.

Bay Area Guy said...

Our gallant hostess is waxing lyrical on the Donald

Chris N said...

Let's put 'wax' in the museum

cubanbob said...

Trump could build the wall using black granite with the name Trump every six feet in gold letters and a rather substantial number of people in the country would be waxing lyrically. Does polishing the granite considered a form of waxing? If so, maybe he can get the Mexicans to do the waxing. Now that would be lyrical.

Fernandinande said...

"Phrasal Verb:
wax on
To speak or write at length about something: "Mason waxed on and on about the old days" (Jennifer Cruisie)."

mikeski said...

We're gonna need more waaax.

Known Unknown said...

Wax on. Wax off.

Brando said...

So in keeping with the Trump pattern, when the U.S. goes bankrupt who gets the wall?

tim in vermont said...

I love how old socialists like Leahy here in Vermont compare it to a Berlin Wall. That wall was built by socialists to keep the workers in their paradise, and those trying to escape were shot, same as people trying to flee Cuba to Guantanamo are sometimes shot by the socialists.

To add insult to injury, Leahy made the comparison to the Berlin Wall while talking about how great it was that we are friends with Cuba again. The man has zero sense of irony or he thinks his voters are fools or he is a fool himself. There are no other possible explanations.

Anonymous said...

My interest in this thread has waned.

Michael said...

We are bordered by two countries with very strict immigration policies. Laws, actually, which they enforce rather strictly. I am in and out of Mexico and Canada a dozen times each year and I can assure you they will toss your ass out if you overstay and they will send you home if you think you are coming in to work without a permit. One should note that our brethren to the south make a stop here in the USA and do not proceed to the Canadian border. Not. Welcome. There.

The Canadians and Mexicans are both of the belief that they are sovereign nations, the home of their citizens. You invite into your home only those who make a contribution and you do not permit people to steal into your basement and take up housekeeping.

traditionalguy said...

But JEB's wife told him Mexican invasion is an act of love. And the Chamber of Commerce said it is an act of eliminating middle class salaries and benefits from the face of the earth. And the Catholic Prelacy says its enormous wealth just like the good old days before the Brave refugees from the counter reformation escaped to Massachusetts and dumped the Tea into the Harbor to start a war to keep North America Protestant.

mikee said...

First comment nails the cultural reference misapplied by the author of the linked piece. Mr. Miyagi lives on!

wildswan said...

If Trump declines in the polls, he will be waning literally.

And probably whining like bellowing bull.

wildswan said...

If Trump declines in the polls, he will be waning literally.

And probably whining like bellowing bull.

YoungHegelian said...

@Tradguy,

and dumped the Tea into the Harbor to start a war to keep North America Protestant.

Uhhhm, because GB in 1776 was a Catholic country? That would have come as a great surprise to King George & Parliament.

Is there a competition you're in, you know, one where you get a prize for saying the stupidest thing on blog site? Well, if there is, you might want to notify them of your last comment, because I'm sure you'll get the prize.

Anonymous said...

Far be it for me to interrupt a good thread that is parsing a choice of phrase by a hack journalist of the LA Times but I was there last night having RSVPed an invitation sent to my email and would like to say that Trump wasn't as much waxing poetic about the wall as he was becoming animated at the thought of building it.

The real story of the event was the overflow crowd at the event estimated to be 2,700. It was scheduled to start at 6:30 P.M. but according to volunteers I spoke with people began to gather at noon. People stood in the rare August day in New Hampshire that had temperature exceeding 80 degrees. Down the street in Merrimac, N.H., Jeb Bush spoke to a crowd of 128, according to reports I heard after the Trump event.

During a question and answer period following his speech Trump noted that a movement was starting to build. You could call it a post-Tea Party silent majority finding a champion movement or Trumpism for short.

tim in vermont said...

Bernie is drawing crowds almost as good as Sarah Palin.

traditionalguy said...

The tea party guerrilla war was the opening salvo in defense of a Protestat Puritan Colony founded by descendants of the 250,000 Protestants that fled England under the terror of Catholic King Charles I and the Anglican Archbishops like Laud that had a itchy match for burning Christian Theologians and innocent Christians at the stake. That was ended after 10 years when Oliver Cromwell exercised the rights of a free man, raised a militia, captured and executed the Catholic King for treason for seeking alliances with the Catholic Kings of France and Spain who wanted to join him in invading England and slaughtering the Christians.

You have conveniently forgotten that very real history with silly "they were mean to us too" defenses scripted in Rome, but the Massachusetts Bay guys in 1775 remembered it well. They then trusted King George's Church of England as much as they trusted the evil Ruler in Rome.

Today the enemies of Presbyterian men are back hiding under the cloak of UN worldwide governance to end non existent pollution and reestablish a world Prelacy under a military force in alliance with Rome and its Argentinian fool dressed in fancy hats.




grackle said...

The real story of the event was the overflow crowd at the event estimated to be 2,700.

Contrast the two:

Trump speaks without notes, teleprompter or speechwriters. Peppered throughout Trump’s speech are examples of the audience shouting out responses to Trump lines about the military, The Wall, illegal immigrants, etc. But these outbursts are not harassment from the audience; instead they are spontaneous eruptions of emotion in the form of positive feedback to the man at the podium – as if they were speaking with him. And they are, because Trump replies and acknowledges their words. As time goes by it is realized that Trump is happily winging it without a care for political correctness or gaffe.

I have not seen this type of call and response outside of a black preacher in front of a black congregation.

Obama also speaks to audiences. His speech is totally scripted and teleprompted in order to foster the illusion of unscripted speech. The wording is careful, parsed and constipated. Except for some very rare instances there are no interruptions from the audience. And this is part of the pattern of most politicians – scripted, parsed lines delivered to passive audiences.

And, oh yeah, Bush. Bush is beside the point at this point.

Will Trump’s campaign have legs? This is the big question.

If I had to place a bet in Vegas at this point my money would have to be on Trump.

First rule of Fight Club:

Do not try to out-Trump Trump – because that is impossible. Bush and the rest have no choice but to plug away and hope Trump fades.

Second rule of Fight Club:

Don’t attack Trump. Because THAT is what Trump wants. Take the high road; refuse to speak ill of a fellow Republican and poke along with policy statements and such. Because he might consider you for a cabinet position in his administration or because if he is eventually brought down by the MSM some of his supporters might switch to you and you’ll be sitting pretty.

Anonymous said...

The writer was subconsciously influenced by the Karate Kid -- "Wax on, wax off."

jr565 said...

Lets not have trump build it. it will be garish and overly expensive, like his hotels.

Nichevo said...

You should see what he said about rehabbing the UN complex. Too expensive is how the govt would build it. Ask the 16 GOP candidates, oh and any Dems, what a curtain wall is, and get dumb looks from all of them not named Donald.