{"id":152311,"date":"2026-05-18T15:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/05\/18\/your-name-as-an-adjective\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T15:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:57:10","slug":"your-name-as-an-adjective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/05\/18\/your-name-as-an-adjective\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Name As An Adjective"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Is it happening more now than it did in the past?<\/p>\n

Or do I simply notice it more, since I\u2019ve become aware of it?<\/p>\n

Last week, Xi Jinping, the president of China, said that he hoped the world could avoid falling into a \u201cThucydides trap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Xi wins.\u00a0I\u2019d heard of Thucydides, but I couldn\u2019t have told you what his trap was.<\/p>\n

(Now that I\u2019ve investigated, Xi probably said this to avoid Trump\u2019s criticism.\u00a0If Xi had said that America was in decline, Trump might have objected.\u00a0If Xi said that the world should avoid a Thucydides trap, Xi could be pretty damn confident that Trump wouldn\u2019t say a word.)<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in Thucydides traps, google it.\u00a0That\u2019s not really my point.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago, Bill Maher said there were phrases that he understands well enough.\u00a0He doesn\u2019t want anybody to give a more precise definition.\u00a0Among Maher\u2019s phrases was \u201cOverton window.\u201d<\/p>\n

I knew that one, but only because I\u2019d recently looked it up.<\/p>\n

If you care, google it.\u00a0That\u2019s not really my point.<\/p>\n

Someone was talking about the Strait of Hormuz recently, and he said the strait was seemingly open and closed at the same time.\u00a0American leaders said they had defeated the Iranians, so the strait was open, but then had independently chosen to blockade the strait, so it was closed.\u00a0Open and closed at the same time, snickered the pundit.\u00a0Sort of like Schrodinger\u2019s cat.<\/p>\n

If you care, google it.\u00a0That\u2019s not really my point.<\/p>\n

If you read Scott Greenfield\u2019s thoughts over at\u00a0Simple Justice<\/a>, you\u2019ll occasionally be told that you shouldn\u2019t change a rule unless you know what purpose the rule was intended to serve.\u00a0According to Greenfield, that\u2019s like Chesterton\u2019s fence.<\/p>\n

If you care, google it.\u00a0That\u2019s not really my point.<\/p>\n

I was reading something recently, and the text told me that I\u2019d have to turn the thought over in my mind, like pondering Theseus\u2019s ship.<\/p>\n

If you care, google it.\u00a0That\u2019s not really my point.<\/p>\n

This morning (I\u2019m writing on Saturday), the \u201cOpinion Today\u201d email from\u00a0The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0told me that the author had fallen prey to Fredkin\u2019s paradox.<\/p>\n

Google, here I come.<\/p>\n

I started to think about this.\u00a0 Why do I notice the adjectival use of people\u2019s names today in a way that I didn\u2019t years ago?\u00a0Occam\u2019s razor tells me that the simplest explanation is often the best.\u00a0I\u2019m not, after all, looking for a Platonic ideal, just a basic explanation.<\/p>\n

The simplest explanation, I think, is the existence of search engines.\u00a0In the past, when I hit a phrase that I didn\u2019t understand, I just kept reading; there was no easy way to cure my ignorance.\u00a0Today, when I hit a phrase that baffles (or intrigues) me, I google it.\u00a0How convenient to hold all human knowledge in the palm of one\u2019s hand!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t understand a phrase and just keep on reading, the phrase won\u2019t stick in your mind; you move on in your ignorance.\u00a0But if you pause to look up a phrase, you make a mental note of the new words.\u00a0You become more attentive to the phrase than you\u2019d otherwise be.<\/p>\n

I agree with many of the critics who say that social media shortens our collective attention span and is dangerous for kids (and many adults).\u00a0Social media may well sharpen the political divide in our country; it sure seems that way. Artificial intelligence may soon exterminate us all.<\/p>\n

But at least there\u2019s an upside to all this technology.<\/p>\n

In the past, I never stopped to investigate new adjectival uses of people\u2019s names, because it was almost impossible to do the research.\u00a0I went on using (or understanding) phrases that I\u2019d understood for decades.\u00a0Prose could be Shakespearean in its eloquence, and certain items survived Darwinian selection.\u00a0I knew Orwellian and Machiavellian and Kafkaesque. I\u2019ve had my share of Freudian slips (although none involved an Oedipal complex) and, when I work up a head of steam, Newton\u2019s law helps to keep me going.<\/p>\n

But I never went beyond the basics, because it was too hard to get there.<\/p>\n

Now, because of the internet, we can use \u2014 and remember, or at least look up \u2014 more people\u2019s names as adjectives.<\/p>\n

But why, you might ask, am I writing this?\u00a0 Shouldn\u2019t I be writing about the law, or pontificating about politics, or doing something worthwhile?<\/p>\n

Or maybe Above the Law solicited me to write this column for only one reason:\u00a0Murphy\u2019s law.<\/p>\n

\n

Mark\u00a0Herrmann\u00a0spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Curmudgeon\u2019s Guide to Practicing Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(affiliate links). You can reach him by email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>inhouse@abovethelaw.com<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The post Your Name As An Adjective<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Is it happening more now than it did in the past?<\/p>\n

Or do I simply notice it more, since I\u2019ve become aware of it?<\/p>\n

Last week, Xi Jinping, the president of China, said that he hoped the world could avoid falling into a \u201cThucydides trap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Xi wins.\u00a0I\u2019d heard of Thucydides, but I couldn\u2019t have told you what his trap was.<\/p>\n

(Now that I\u2019ve investigated, Xi probably said this to avoid Trump\u2019s criticism.\u00a0If Xi had said that America was in decline, Trump might have objected.\u00a0If Xi said that the world should avoid a Thucydides trap, Xi could be pretty damn confident that Trump wouldn\u2019t say a word.)<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in Thucydides traps, google it.\u00a0That\u2019s not really my point.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago, Bill Maher said there were phrases that he understands well enough.\u00a0He doesn\u2019t want anybody to give a more precise definition.\u00a0Among Maher\u2019s phrases was \u201cOverton window.\u201d<\/p>\n

I knew that one, but only because I\u2019d recently looked it up.<\/p>\n

If you care, google it.\u00a0That\u2019s not really my point.<\/p>\n

Someone was talking about the Strait of Hormuz recently, and he said the strait was seemingly open and closed at the same time.\u00a0American leaders said they had defeated the Iranians, so the strait was open, but then had independently chosen to blockade the strait, so it was closed.\u00a0Open and closed at the same time, snickered the pundit.\u00a0Sort of like Schrodinger\u2019s cat.<\/p>\n

If you care, google it.\u00a0That\u2019s not really my point.<\/p>\n

If you read Scott Greenfield\u2019s thoughts over at\u00a0Simple Justice<\/a>, you\u2019ll occasionally be told that you shouldn\u2019t change a rule unless you know what purpose the rule was intended to serve.\u00a0According to Greenfield, that\u2019s like Chesterton\u2019s fence.<\/p>\n

If you care, google it.\u00a0That\u2019s not really my point.<\/p>\n

I was reading something recently, and the text told me that I\u2019d have to turn the thought over in my mind, like pondering Theseus\u2019s ship.<\/p>\n

If you care, google it.\u00a0That\u2019s not really my point.<\/p>\n

This morning (I\u2019m writing on Saturday), the \u201cOpinion Today\u201d email from\u00a0The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0told me that the author had fallen prey to Fredkin\u2019s paradox.<\/p>\n

Google, here I come.<\/p>\n

I started to think about this.\u00a0 Why do I notice the adjectival use of people\u2019s names today in a way that I didn\u2019t years ago?\u00a0Occam\u2019s razor tells me that the simplest explanation is often the best.\u00a0I\u2019m not, after all, looking for a Platonic ideal, just a basic explanation.<\/p>\n

The simplest explanation, I think, is the existence of search engines.\u00a0In the past, when I hit a phrase that I didn\u2019t understand, I just kept reading; there was no easy way to cure my ignorance.\u00a0Today, when I hit a phrase that baffles (or intrigues) me, I google it.\u00a0How convenient to hold all human knowledge in the palm of one\u2019s hand!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t understand a phrase and just keep on reading, the phrase won\u2019t stick in your mind; you move on in your ignorance.\u00a0But if you pause to look up a phrase, you make a mental note of the new words.\u00a0You become more attentive to the phrase than you\u2019d otherwise be.<\/p>\n

I agree with many of the critics who say that social media shortens our collective attention span and is dangerous for kids (and many adults).\u00a0Social media may well sharpen the political divide in our country; it sure seems that way. Artificial intelligence may soon exterminate us all.<\/p>\n

But at least there\u2019s an upside to all this technology.<\/p>\n

In the past, I never stopped to investigate new adjectival uses of people\u2019s names, because it was almost impossible to do the research.\u00a0I went on using (or understanding) phrases that I\u2019d understood for decades.\u00a0Prose could be Shakespearean in its eloquence, and certain items survived Darwinian selection.\u00a0I knew Orwellian and Machiavellian and Kafkaesque. I\u2019ve had my share of Freudian slips (although none involved an Oedipal complex) and, when I work up a head of steam, Newton\u2019s law helps to keep me going.<\/p>\n

But I never went beyond the basics, because it was too hard to get there.<\/p>\n

Now, because of the internet, we can use \u2014 and remember, or at least look up \u2014 more people\u2019s names as adjectives.<\/p>\n

But why, you might ask, am I writing this?\u00a0 Shouldn\u2019t I be writing about the law, or pontificating about politics, or doing something worthwhile?<\/p>\n

Or maybe Above the Law solicited me to write this column for only one reason:\u00a0Murphy\u2019s law.<\/p>\n

\n

Mark\u00a0Herrmann\u00a0spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Curmudgeon\u2019s Guide to Practicing Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(affiliate links). You can reach him by email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>[email\u00a0protected]<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is it happening more now than it did in the past? Or do I simply notice it more, since I\u2019ve become aware of it? Last week, Xi Jinping, the president of China, said that he hoped the world could avoid falling into a \u201cThucydides trap.\u201d Xi wins.\u00a0I\u2019d heard of Thucydides, but I couldn\u2019t have told […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":151976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/coffee-1869820_1920-LNsyHP.jpg?fit=1920%2C1281&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}