Tom Paine: citizen of the world

Posted by Word Camel on September 23, 2004

In Reply to: Never a better born Englishman posted by David FG on September 23, 2004

: : : : : : She is a bit "trying"="annoying"? obnoxious?

: : : : :
: : : : : I think it's closer to annoying and irritating than obnoxious, but you have the idea.

: : : : Again, questions about single words are easily answered using a dictionary. This site is for phrases.

: : : "These are the times that try men's souls." (Tom Paine, American patriot.) And these are the women who will test your patience. Same verb, so to speak. "Trying" is a so-called verbal, in this case a present participle used as an adjective, the original verb being "try = test". SS

: : SS - I'm not sure I'd call Paine an American patriot. Here's a description from one website;
: : [Thomas Paine] was detached from local patriotisms and national interests, a delegate at large in the cause of human rights, concerned with spreading the gospel of freedom in all lands.
: : And here's a strangely logical sentence from another; But his radical views on religion would destroy his success, and by the end of his life, only a handful of people attended his funeral.

: : The fate of his body is a mystery!
: : I will dance to Tom Paine's bones, dance to Tom Paine's bones,
: : Dance in the oldest boots I own to the rhythm of Tom Paine's bones.

:
: If we are talking about the same Tom Paine, he was English. 'The Rights of Man' and so on.

: DFG

He was a character. He was indeed born in London and was the son of a corset maker (he wasn't very good at making them himself) He wrote the Rights of Man above a pub near the Angel in Islington. He was known for his stuborn refusal to wash (Thomas Jefferson once refused to let him in his office because he smelled so bad), he was given a rather large farm and land track for his service to the American revolution but wasn't able to make a go of it. He was obsessed with building the most advanced bridge of his age but failed at that too. And yet, he was on had for both the American Revolution and the French and was able to sum up the guiding principles of the revolutions better than anyone. It think he might be better remembered as a cosmopolitan in the best sense. Too bad he didn't wash more.

• (correcting typos and other incoherences) Word Camel 23/September/04
  • Land tract? Lotg 24/September/04
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