Unprecedented

Have you ever seen The Princess Bride[1]? The character played by Wallace Stevens says that pretty much everything he encounters is, “inconceivable.[2]” Eventually, the character played by Mandy Patinkin tells him that his over reliance on this word might be misplaced considering the actual meaning and the situations where it is being used. He tells Wallace Stevens, “[y]ou keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

I think we (all of us!) are all using the word unprecedented in a similar vein--yes, we are all shocked by current events –but are these things truly unprecedented? Unprecedented is defined by the Cambridge dictionary as, “never having happened or existed in the past[3]’ Perhaps the combination of events we are witnessing has never happened before, but let’s take a look at some of these “unprecedented events” more closely.

1. Assassination attempt: been there, done that. Some even succeeded. Not unprecedented. The fact that it was a past-President running again after losing an election may be a novel spin, but still shooting at folks is nothing new.[4]

2. Case dismissed because of a Brady violation: has totally happened before-you know like in the actual Brady case[5]? That was in 1963, so I am guessing it has happened a few times since then as well. The fact that was a celebrity making a film may be something different, but fu^&ing around with Due Process and finding out is, again, nothing new.

3. Incumbent drops out of race: been done. A few times. Perhaps announcing it a month before the Convention is a twist, but nonetheless, walking away is nothing new.

4. Doing something for the good of others (and a nation) rather than for yourself or your power: it has been a while since we have seen such a classy and honorable action, but this isn’t the first time it has happened. I imagine there are people making these decisions every day and we are just not hearing about it-because selfless and honorable deeds are not done for the glory of the doer. Good people are (fortunately) nothing new.

5. The Supreme Court overturning itself and others: this has fortuitously happened before (Plessy overturned by Brown[6] is an example). And yet, since it obliterates precedent, it seems to be unprecedenting[7] but not unprecedented (say that five times fast). Has the Court always been as politically motivated as it now seems? As much I would like to say no, I would offer the Warren court. Are their decisions more palatable to me because they align with my politics? Yes. But was it political? Also, yes. However, revoking rights rather than finding and enforcing them is a twist here, but the Court bending to the wind is nothing new.

This list could go on a for a long while (pandemics, etc.), but here’s the bottom line: yes, much of what is going on is a different variety of what has happened in the past. It may not have happened in our lifetimes, or all together, but to continuously use the term unprecedented for all of them dilutes the meaning of the word. Let’s save it for truly unprecedented things like having a woman of color running for President[8].

I mean, like, literally, can’t we find another term for the other stuff?

Happy Bar Week (next week) to those who celebrate!

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] If you answered no to this question you need to stop reading now and go watch it. Seriously, have you been under a rock? This is a classic film and should be part of your cultural vocabulary. I’ll wait.

[2] https://screenrant.com/princess-bride-every-time-vizzini-says-inconceivable/#:~:text=%22He%20didn't%20fall%3F,seemingly%20normal%20man%20has%20survived.

[3] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/unprecedented#google_vignette

[4] And it is horrible-but not something we haven’t seen before.

[5] Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963)

[6] Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

[7] Yes, I made up this word. It was therefore an unprecedented use. Ha!

[8] And while it is unprecedented in 2024, which is far, far too late, if things go as planned at the convention, then we cannot ever use the term again. How lovely would that be?