Word: cryptics
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What, finally, is the new moral of the ancient story of language? That in language, as in fife, people end up with what they want-and perhaps deserve. The cryptic Cambridge philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, Ur-father of the new linguistics, who spoke best in aphorisms, put it thus: "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world." One's words, for better and for worse, define one's reality, and what you say is what you get. "Melvin Maddocks
...previous year, ITT Executive John F. Ryan, in a memo to William R. Merriam, a corporate colleague, had made a cryptic reference to "Dita and dollars," then reported: "I was asked by Ned [Gerrity] to get some feel for you from Dita as to what is required." On June 25, 1971, Dita Beard wrote to Merriam, her superior, that ITT's "noble commitment" of funds for the Republican Convention had "gone a long way toward our negotiations on the mergers eventually coming out as Hal [Geneen] wants them...
...radioed the burglars and asked them if they were wandering around outside the offices with their guns drawn. "No," came the cryptic reply. And the burglars were caught...
Seeking guidance because the "campaign seemed to be falling apart" and FBI agents had arrived at his office to question him, Sloan went to John Mitchell, who offered the cryptic advice: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." That prompted Ervin to ask slyly and rhetorically: "How long after that did Mitchell leave the campaign?" (In fact, it was a week later.) Then Sloan took his complaint to White House Appointments Secretary Dwight Chapin, who told him he was "overwrought" and should take a vacation. Ehrlichman counseled: "Do not tell me the details. 1 do not want...
Finally, the Russians made a cryptic announcement that Salyut's mission had been completed...