All 3 Uses of
phenomenon
in
Politics and the English Language
- Words like PHENOMENON, ELEMENT, INDIVIDUAL (as noun), OBJECTIVE, CATEGORICAL, EFFECTIVE, VIRTUAL, BASIS, PRIMARY, PROMOTE, CONSTITUTE, EXHIBIT, EXPLOIT, UTILIZE, ELIMINATE, LIQUIDATE, are used to dress up simple statements and give an air of scientific impartiality to biased judgments.†
- Here it is in modern English: Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.†
- This had to be so, because no modern writer of the kind I am discussing–no one capable of using phrases like "objective consideration of contemporary phenomena"–would ever tabulate his thoughts in that precise and detailed way.†
*
Definition:
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(phenomenon) something that exists or happened -- especially something of special interest -- sometimes someone or something that is extraordinaryeditor's notes: "Phenomenons" and "phenomena" are both appropriate plural forms of this noun. "Phenomena" is generally used in scientific or philosophical contexts.