TPM Reader PA says we need to put more focus on diction in understanding the Rep. Grimm story …
You really should start using the correct term for Grimm’s threat against the reporter: defenestration.
Grimm isn’t the first bully to threaten or even carry out defenestration. He’s actually part of a long tradition dating back to Edward Longshanks and Darth Vader.
Personally, I love that Grimm didn’t apologize. It doesn’t matter whether you have 11 in blackjack or you threaten to throw a reporter over a balcony: YOU ALWAYS DOUBLE DOWN. Everyone knows that.
Actually let’s not stop there. There’s also the more well known Defenestrations of Prague. Plural. There were actually three, the last occurring in 1948 with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk.
That said, the stickler Eric Lach notes that Grimm wasn’t precisely threatening a defenestration since that means throwing someone out a window. So our staff chat has suggested coining the new term ‘debalconization’ to capture the precise nature of how Grimm rolls.
