TEDxHousesOfParliament
Mark Forsyth: What's a snollygoster? A short lesson in political speak
Mark Forsyth: Što je snollygoster? Kratka lekcija iz političkog govora
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Većina političara pažljivo bira riječi, kako bi oblikovali stvarnost koju se nadaju stvoriti. Funkcionira li to? Etimolog Mark Forsyth prikazuje nekoliko zanimljivih podrijetala riječi iz britanske i američke povijesti (na primjer, jeste li se ikada zapitali kako je George Washington postao „predsjednik“?) i stvara iznenađujuće zaključke.
Mark Forsyth - Writer
Mark Forsyth strolls through the English language, telling stories, making connections and banishing hobgoblins. Full bio
Mark Forsyth strolls through the English language, telling stories, making connections and banishing hobgoblins. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:16
One of my favorite words in the whole of
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Jedna od mojih omiljenih riječi u cijelom
00:18
the Oxford English Dictionary is "snollygoster."
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Oxfordovom riječniku engleskog je "snollygoster".
00:22
Just because it sounds so good.
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Samo zato što to zvuči tako dobro.
00:23
And what snollygoster means is
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Snollygoster znači
00:25
"a dishonest politician."
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„nepošteni političar".
00:28
Although there was a 19th-century
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Iako, u 19. stoljeću živio je
00:29
newspaper editor who defined it rather better when he said,
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novinski urednik koji je definirao to bolje kada je rekao,
00:31
"A snollygoster is a fellow who seeks office
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„snollygoster je čovjek koji traži ured,
00:34
regardless of party, platform or principle,
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bez obzira na stranku, podij ili princip,
00:38
and who, when he wins,
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i koji, kad pobijedi,
00:39
gets there by the sheer force
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dolazi ondje strmoglavom silom
00:41
of monumental talknophical assumnancy."
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monumentalnog verbalnog rasipanja nečuvenih ideja“.
00:45
(Laughter)
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(Smijeh)
00:47
Now I have no idea what "talknophical" is.
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Nemam pojma što znaći "talknophical".
00:49
Something to do with words, I assume.
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Nešto u vezi s riječima, pretpostavljam.
00:50
But it's very important that words are at the center of politics,
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No, veoma je važno da su riječi u središtu politike
00:53
and all politicians know they have to try and control language.
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i svi političari znaju da se moraju truditi i kontrolirati jezik.
00:57
It wasn't until, for example, 1771
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Primjerice, sve do 1771.
01:00
that the British Parliament allowed newspapers to report
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i objave britanskog parlamenta, nije bilo dozvoljeno novinama objavljivati
01:04
the exact words that were said in the debating chamber.
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točne riječi koje su izgovorene u sabornici.
01:08
And this was actually all down to the bravery
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Sve je to učinjeno zbog hrabrosti
01:10
of a guy with the extraordinary name of Brass Crosby,
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čovjeka izvanrednog imena Brass Crosby,
01:13
who took on Parliament.
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koji je navalio na Parlamet.
01:15
And he was thrown into the Tower of London
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Bio je bačen u Tower of London
01:17
and imprisoned,
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i zatvoren,
01:18
but he was brave enough,
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ali bio je dovoljno hrabar,
01:21
he was brave enough to take them on,
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bio je dovoljno hrabar da nastavi,
01:24
and in the end he had such popular support in London that he won.
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na kraju je imao tako popularnu potporu u Londonu da je pobijedio.
01:26
And it was only a few years later
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Svega nekoliko godina kasnije
01:29
that we have the first recorded use of the phrase
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imamo prvu zabilježbu upotrebe fraze
01:31
"as bold as brass."
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"as bold as a brass (smion kao Brass – tj. mjed )."
01:34
Most people think that's down to the metal.
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Većina ljudi misli da se radi o metalu.
01:36
It's not. It's down to a campaigner
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Ne radi se. To je po borcu
01:38
for the freedom of the press.
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za slobodu tiska.
01:41
But to really show you how
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No, da bi vam stvarno pokazao kako
01:43
words and politics interact,
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riječi i politika međudjeluju,
01:45
I want to take you back to the United States of America,
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odvest ću vas u SAD,
01:48
just after they'd achieved independence.
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odmah poslije ostvarivanja neovisnosti.
01:50
And they had to face the question
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Morali su se suočiti s pitanjem
01:52
of what to call George Washington, their leader.
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kako zvati, Georgea Washingtona, njihovog vođu.
01:55
They didn't know.
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Nisu znali.
01:56
What do you call the leader of a republican country?
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Kako zovu vođe država koje su republike?
01:59
And this was debated in Congress for ages and ages.
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O tome se u Kongresu raspravljalo i raspravljalo.
02:03
And there were all sorts of suggestions on the table,
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Bilo je svakakvih prijedloga
02:05
which might have made it.
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koji su mogli biti odabrani.
02:06
I mean, some people wanted him to be called
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Neki ljudi su ga željeli oslovljavati sa
02:08
Chief Magistrate Washington,
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Glavni Sudac Washington,
02:10
and other people, His Highness George Washington,
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drugi Njegova Visost George Washington,
02:13
and other people, Protector of the Liberties of the People of the United States of America Washington.
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treći Zaštitnik sloboda ljudi u Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama Washington.
02:20
Not that catchy.
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Ne baš privlačno.
02:21
Some people just wanted to call him King.
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Neki ljudi su ga jednostavno htjeli nazvati Kralj.
02:24
They thought it was tried and tested.
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Mislili su da je iskušano i testirano.
02:25
And they weren't even being monarchical there,
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A nisu ciljali biti monarhija,
02:27
they had the idea that you could be elected King
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imali su ideju da možete biti izabrani kraljem
02:29
for a fixed term.
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na određeno vrijeme.
02:31
And, you know, it could have worked.
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I znate, moglo je to upaliti.
02:32
And everybody got insanely bored, actually,
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Svima je zapravo postalo užasno dosadno
02:35
because this debate went on for three weeks.
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jer se rasprava nastavila iduća tri tjedna.
02:37
I read a diary of this poor senator,
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Čitao sam dnevik nesretnog senatora
02:38
who just keeps coming back, "Still on this subject."
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koji je cijelo vrijeme ponavljao "Još uvijek na ovoj temi“ .
02:41
And the reason for the delay and the boredom was that
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Razlog kašnjenja i dosade bio je što je
02:44
the House of Representatives were against the Senate.
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Zastupnički dom bio protiv Senata.
02:47
The House of Representatives didn't want Washington
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Zastupnički dom nije htio da Washingtona
02:50
to get drunk on power.
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opije moć.
02:52
They didn't want to call him King
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Nisu ga željeli zvati kralj,
02:53
in case that gave him ideas, or his successor ideas.
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da to ne da ideje njemu ili njegovu nasljedniku.
02:56
So they wanted to give him the humblest, meagerest,
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Željeli su mu dati skromniji, slabiji,
02:59
most pathetic title that they could think of.
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najjadniji naslov kojeg su se mogli sjetiti.
03:02
And that title was "President."
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Taj naslov bio je ˝predsjednik˝.
03:08
President. They didn't invent the title. I mean, it existed before,
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Predsjednik. Nisu oni izmislili taj naslov. Postojao je on ranije,
03:11
but it just meant somebody who presides over a meeting.
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no samo je označavao nekoga tko predsjeda sastankom.
03:14
It was like the foreman of the jury.
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To je bilo kao glavni porotnik.
03:16
And it didn't have much more grandeur
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Nije to bilo ništa raskošnije
03:18
than the term "foreman" or "overseer."
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od izraza "nadzornik" ili "predradnik".
03:20
There were occasional presidents of little colonial councils
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Postojali su povremeni predsjednici malih kolonijalnih vijeća
03:23
and bits of government, but it was really a nothing title.
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i djelića vlasti, ali zapravo nije bio nikakav naslov.
03:26
And that's why the Senate objected to it.
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I zato je Senat tome prigovorio.
03:28
They said, that's ridiculous, you can't call him President.
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Rekli su da je to smiješno i da ga ne mogu zvati predsjednik.
03:32
This guy has to go and sign treaties and meet foreign dignitaries.
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Taj čovjek treba potpisivati sporazume i susretati strane dostojanstvenike.
03:35
And who's going to take him seriously
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I tko će ga uzeti za ozbiljno
03:37
if he's got a silly little title
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ako ima blesav naslov
03:39
like President of the United States of America?
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kao što je Predsjednik Sjedinjenih Američkih Država?
03:43
And after three weeks of debate, in the end
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Nakon tri tjedna raspravljanja
03:47
the Senate did not cave in.
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Senat još uvijek nije popustio.
03:50
Instead, they agreed to use the title "President" for now,
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Umjesto toga, odlučili su privremeno koristiti naziv "predsjednik“,
03:56
but they also wanted it absolutely set down
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ali htjeli su da se jasno istakne
03:59
that they didn't agree with it
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kako se nisu s tim složili
04:02
from a decent respect for the opinions and practice of civilized nations,
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iz poštovanja prema mišljenjima i praksi civiliziranih nacija,
04:08
whether under republican or monarchical forms of government,
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bile one republike ili monarhije,
04:11
whose custom it is to annex,
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čiji je običaj bio nadopuniti
04:13
through the office of the Chief Magistrate, titles of respectability --
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ured Glavnog Suca respektabilnim titulama –
04:18
not bloody President --
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ne prokleti Predsjednikom –
04:20
and that in the intercourse with foreign nations,
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i da u komunikaciji s drugim nacijama,
04:24
the majesty of the people of the United States
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veličanstvo naroda Sjedinjenih Američkih Država
04:28
may not be hazarded by an appearance of singularity,
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ne bi bilo oštećeno pojavom jedne osobe,
04:31
i.e., we don't want to look like bloody weirdos.
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tj. ne želimo izgledati kao čudaci.
04:35
Now you can learn three interesting things from this.
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Iz toga se mogu izvuči tri zanimljive stvari.
04:38
First of all -- and this is my favorite --
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Prvo – i ovo mi je najdraže –
04:41
is that so far as I've ever been able to find out,
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a to je, što do sada, koliko sam bio u mogućnosti saznati,
04:43
the Senate has never formally endorsed the title of President.
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Senat nikada nije formalno usvojio naslov Predsjednika.
04:48
Barack Obama, President Obama, is there on borrowed time,
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Barack Obama, predsjednik Obama, je tamo na određeno vrijeme,
04:51
just waiting for the Senate to spring into action.
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čeka Senat da krene u akciju.
04:55
Second thing you can learn is that
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Druga stvar koju možete naučiti je ta,
04:57
when a government says that this is a temporary measure --
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kada vlada kaže da je ovo privremena mjera --
05:00
(Laughter) --
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(Smijeh) --
05:03
you can still be waiting 223 years later.
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možete čekati i 223 godine.
05:08
But the third thing you can learn,
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Međutim, treća stvar koju možete naučiti,
05:09
and this is the really important one,
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i ta je vrlo važna,
05:11
this is the point I want to leave you on,
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poanta koju vam želim ostaviti
05:12
is that the title, President of the United States of America,
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je ta da naziv Predsjednik SAD-a
05:17
doesn't sound that humble at all these days, does it?
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ne zvuči tako skromno ovih dana uopće, zar ne?
05:22
Something to do with the slightly over 5,000
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Ima veze s nešto više od 5.000
05:25
nuclear warheads he has at his disposal
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nuklearnih bojnih glava koje ima na raspolaganju
05:27
and the largest economy in the world
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i najvećom ekonomijom na svijetu
05:29
and a fleet of drones and all that sort of stuff.
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te flotom bespilotnih letjelica i svim tim stvarima.
05:33
Reality and history have endowed that title with grandeur.
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Realnost i povijest su taj naslov uzdigli, preuveličali.
05:40
And so the Senate won in the end.
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I tako je Senat na kraju pobijedio.
05:41
They got their title of respectability.
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Dobili su svoj naslov poštovanja.
05:44
And also, the Senate's other worry, the appearance of singularity --
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Također, druga briga Senata, pojava jedinstvenosti –
05:47
well, it was a singularity back then.
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dobro, to je bila jedinstvenost onda.
05:49
But now, do you know how many nations have a president?
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Međutim sada, znate li koliko nacija ima predsjednika?
05:52
A hundred and forty-seven.
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147.
05:55
All because they want to sound like
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Samo zato što žele zvučati kao
05:56
the guy who's got the 5,000 nuclear warheads, etc.
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čovjek koji ima 5.000 nuklearnih bojnih glava itd.
06:01
And so, in the end, the Senate won
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I tako na kraju, Senat je pobjedio
06:04
and the House of Representatives lost,
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i Zastupnički dom Kongresa izgubio,
06:08
because nobody's going to feel that humble
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zato što nitko neće osjetiti tu skromnost
06:10
when they're told that they are now
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kada im se kaže da su oni sada
06:12
the President of the United States of America.
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Predsjednik SAD-a.
06:16
And that's the important lesson I think you can take away,
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I to je važna lekcija koju možete usvojiti
06:19
and the one I want to leave you with.
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i ona s kojom želim da odete.
06:20
Politicians try to pick words and use words to shape reality
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Političari pokušavaju birati riječi i koristiti se njima kako bi oblikovali
06:23
and control reality, but in fact,
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i kontrolirali stvarnost, međutim zapravo,
06:27
reality changes words far more
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stvarnost mijenja riječi više
06:29
than words can ever change reality.
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nego što riječi mogu promijeniti stvarnost.
06:32
Thank you very much.
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Puno vam hvala.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mark Forsyth - WriterMark Forsyth strolls through the English language, telling stories, making connections and banishing hobgoblins.
Why you should listen
Mark Forsyth is a passionate, self-described pedant when it comes to the English language -- but his detailed knowledge of history has given him a common-sense approach to its "proper" use. He is an author, blogger, journalist, proofreader and ghostwriter. He can be found dispelling the grammar myths we were all taught in his popular blog, the Inky Fool. His book The Etymologicon takes "a circular stroll through the hidden connections of the English language" by history of one word or phrase with each chapter.
Mark Forsyth | Speaker | TED.com