>I think I can, George.
>
>You are a "liberal" because that's the dirtiest word that, present-day, can be applied to anyone who disagrees in any way with the 'conserative' RIGHT WING agenda.
>
>You might not be a "liberal" if you'd just shuddup about these things.
As an alien, I have trouble follwing some of this. Do I understand correctly, that "liberal" is often used with an offensive connotation? Because when I look it up in
www.dictionary.com, I find mainly definitions that look quite positive - apart from some usages marked as "obsolete":
"Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry."
"Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas..."
Perhaps it refers specifically to meaning "d.", related to "liberal parties", but then again, these are "... associated with principles of social and political liberalism".
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)
