Nibley: Footnote faker or not?

[_Chap]

Markk - you can call Nibley a liar and a fraud, or deluded if you like. I am not carrying a torch for him.

But he was not a dull person churning out stuff to order to get his monthly paycheck. He was a person full of arcane knowledge and driven by enthusiasms that were in many ways alien and potentially disturbing to the Mormons of his time - if only they had actually read his writings rather than simply leaving them on their bookshelves. And alas, when push comes to shove he was prepared to sacrifice honesty in scholarship to his faith - the unforgivable intellectual sin.

Call him all kinds of bad things. He deserved them. But I am a native English speaker of some education, wide reading and experience in writing, and I have never heard the word 'hack' used to describe someone like that.

[_Kishkumen]

You can certainly disagree, but you are on the short side of the facts.

Chap and I have told you why the shoe does not fit Nibley. You can press on as long as you like, but I have yet to see anything the least bit persuasive in what you have added to the pile.

[_Chap]

"Hack" is a slang word... [...]...it does not refer to a horse only, as chap seems to believe.

'Hack is a perfectly regular English word, known for centuries. It is not a 'slang word'. Like many English words, it has multiple senses, but it is attested as a way of referring to 'a literary drudge, who hires himself out to do any and every kind of literary work; hence, a poor writer, a mere scribbler.' since at least 1774.

How on earth could you have read my post as indicating that I think that it only refers to a horse? Do you know what a metaphor is?

Look, I'll do a deal with you - I'll say that Nibley was a hack, but in the new, 'Markkian', sense of the word, meaning, so far as I can see, a guy who does bad things with words and partly in consequence gets admired (by Mormons), and of whom you disapprove. Your side of the bargain is that you now cease to weary me on this topic.

Deal or no deal?

[Guest]

"Hack" is a slang word... [...]...it does not refer to a horse only, as chap seems to believe.

'Hack is a perfectly regular English word, known for centuries. It is not a 'slang word'. Like many English words, it has multiple senses, but it is attested as a way of referring to 'a literary drudge, who hires himself out to do any and every kind of literary work; hence, a poor writer, a mere scribbler.' since at least 1774.

How on earth could you have read my post as indicating that I think that it only refers to a horse? Do you know what a metaphor is?

Look, I'll do a deal with you - I'll say that Nibley was a hack in the new, 'Markkian', sense of the word, meaning, so far as I can see, a guy who does bad things with words and partly in consequence gets admired (by Mormons), and of whom you disapprove. Your side of the bargain is that you now cease to weary literate people with your dreary and uncultivated maunderings.

Deal or no deal?

LOL you mean the "elite" of the board?

Hack is a word that is used as slang for many different contexts...I am a hack in golf, and would be classified a hacker by anyone with a real handicap.

HN was a hack in that he cut up, diced, lied (mis-remembered) and then actually had the nads to teach the BS to the saints. CK called him a crack pot is there really any difference?

Who in academia, in your opinion was or is a hack...with all your literary skills a given?

And regards to HN, sense you believe he was more than a hack, what has he given to the literary word that is paramount and ground breaking...or even relevant beyond Mormonism?
If you can say with all confidence he was not a hack, then you can offer up the work that elevates him to a ________________ (fill in the blank) e.g. ground breaking scholar, crackpot, man with poor hygiene, unorganized eccentric professor, genius, ...etc all "titles" given to him.

I have made it clear what I believe he was, what do you think he was in a word or two?

[_Markk]

You can certainly disagree, but you are on the short side of the facts.

Chap and I have told you why the shoe does not fit Nibley. You can press on as long as you like, but I have yet to see anything the least bit persuasive in what you have added to the pile.

You changed you mind once, so in the words of the the great philosopher Lloyd Christmas..."so you're saying there is a chance...?"

Its funny how you call other folks hacks for less but, dig in when it come to Hugh Nibley.

[_Chap]

... <more drearily insistent stuff about the applicability of 'hack'> ...

[_Kishkumen]

Hugh Nibley was an influential writer, intellectual, and social critic in the Mormon community.

I think that about covers it.

[_Markk]

Hugh Nibley was an influential writer, intellectual, and social critic in the Mormon community.

I think that about covers it.

Not really so...

He is also noted by many as a crackpot, liar, hack, one who plays fast and loose with facts and often mis-remembers. He is known to embellish researched facts in favor of faith promoting BS.

His influence is only within the LDS community, his intellect is scattered and eccentric and governed by his faith.

he is controversial among present and past members...some need him to be more than he is, others can see him as he is.

[_Maksutov]

Hugh Nibley was an influential writer, intellectual, and social critic in the Mormon community.

I think that about covers it.

Not really so...

He is also noted by many as a crackpot, liar, hack, one who plays fast and loose with facts and often mis-remembers. He is known to embellish researched facts in favor of faith promoting BS.

His influence is only within the LDS community, his intellect is scattered and eccentric and governed by his faith.

he is controversial among present and past members...some need him to be more than he is, others can see him as he is.

And some like you need to obsess about him. Good God. Get over it. The whining and the moaning is way overdone. Even a heckling abrasive douche like myself would be done by now. Do you have anything else? Haven't your feelings of insecurity and inferiority regarding academicians been amply demonstrated by now? It's clear as day to an unlettered ignorant puke such as myself. Have some self respect and give it a rest.

[_Rosebud]

Sometimes message boards are lame. This is one of those times.