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We have no language left to talk about the tsunami and the earthquake. Every day we ratchet up the intensifiers, referring to rather mild things as ‘incredible’ or ‘stunning’ or ‘powerful’ or ‘phenomenal’ or ‘awful’. And then when something comes along which is all these things, we can’t use words to treat it with the import it deserves or convey its magnitude.
Ah Nathan, chin up. Language has never been up to the task; it’s its very failure/uselessness which imparts a sense of scale…
…and the sense of powerlessness we feel to help people in unimaginable distress.
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