Summers v Chua

choi

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Gerard Baker, Larry Summers vs. the Tiger Mom; A live debate with Amy Chua: Why A students become academics and C students become billionaire donors. Wall Street JOurnal, Jan 29, 2011.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703956604576109962171060504.html

My comment:
(a) Philip Larkin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Larkin
(1922-1985

(i) This Be The Verse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Be_The_Verse
(written around April 1971; This Be The Verse is perhaps Larkin's best known poem; its opening lines ("They fuck you up, your mum and dad") are almost certainly his most frequently quoted)

(ii) The poem itself:

http://www.artofeurope.com/larkin/lar2.htm
(iii) Re: soppy-stern?
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.usage.english/2007-04/msg01931.html
(John Dean, Oxford: "Given Larkin's education, class, environment and upbringing I'd say with confidence that 'soppy' here intends the 'mawkishly sentimental' meaning and 'stern' the 'strict and uncompromising' sense")
(b) trenchant (adj): "KEEN, SHARP"

The adjective trenchant shares the same root with the noun trench (which means a ditch: from Anglo-French trencher to cut).  

All definitions are from www.m-w.com.
(c) hard-ass (n; First Known Use 1961): "often vulgar : a tough, demanding, or uncompromising person"
(d)  intendant (n; Latin intendere to intend): "an administrative official (as a governor) especially under the French, Spanish, or Portuguese monarchies"
(e) thus (adv):
"1: in this or that manner or way <described it thus>
* * *
3: because of this or that : hence, consequently"

Definition 1 is used in this report.

(f) daunt (vt): "to lessen the courage of : COW, SUBDUE"

Two verbs "daunt" and "tame" share the same Latin root: domitare to tame.
(g) bracing (adj): "giving strength, vigor, or freshness <a bracing breeze>"
(h) penurious (adj)

penury (n): "a cramping and oppressive lack of resources (as money); especially : severe poverty"
(i) gauzy (adj, from the noun gauze): "marked by vagueness, elusiveness, or fuzziness <his gauzy memory of the events> <a gauzy melody>"


-----------------------------Compare
Natalie Angier, Nurturing Nests Lift These Birds to a Higher Perch. New York Times, Feb 1, 2011.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/science/01angier.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=crafty&st=cse

Quote:

opening paragraph: "Amid all the psychosocial caterwauling these days over the relative merits of tiger mothers and helicopter dads, allow me to make a pitch for the quietly dogged parenting style of the New Caledonian crow.

"So how do the birds get so crafty at crafting? New reports * * * suggest that the formula for crow success may not be terribly different from the nostrums commonly served up to people: Let your offspring have an extended childhood in a stable and loving home; lead by example; offer positive reinforcement; be patient and persistent; indulge even a near-adult offspring by occasionally popping a fresh cockroach into its mouth; and realize that at any moment a goshawk might swoop down and put an end to the entire pedagogical program.

My comment:
(a) The noun helicopter is usually used to describe a mother (Jewish or Italish in particular) who HOVERS around their children.
(b) New Caledonia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Caledonia
(has a special status of sui generis collectivity of France; in Melanesia; section 1 Etymology)

(i) sui generis (adj; Latin, of its own kind): "constituting a class alone : UNIQUE, PECULIAR"
(ii) Click "sui generis collectivity" to understand what it means.
(c) vivarium (n): "a terrarium used especially for small animals"

terrarium (n): "a usually transparent enclosure for keeping or raising plants or usually small animals (as turtles) indoors"
(d) nostrum (n; Latin, neuter of noster our, ours, from nos we): "a medicine of secret composition recommended by its preparer but usually without scientific proof of its effectiveness"
(e) Northern Goshawk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Goshawk
(f) pedagogical (adj)

pedagogy (n)
pedagogue (n; Greek paidagōgos, slave who escorted children to school, from paid- ped- [foot] + agōgos leader, from agein to lead — more at AGENT): "TEACHER, SCHOOLMASTER"

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