What does “though” mean?
I’ve taken a hiatus lately from posting on this site, not entirely out of sloth but mainly because there’s been so little to add to the conversation about the president, the Republican members of the House and Senate, the not-so-creeping upwelling of totalitarianism in our government, the climate disaster, and all that. I could rant along with everybody else, but everything is so bloody obvious now that there are no fresh insights to be had. I could also just whine about everything and claim all is lost (which is my more natural inclination), but why bother?
But the events of the past few days have opened an opportunity to shed a little bit of light. The “transcript” (actually a memo prepared by the White House) of Trump’s chat with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine has raised an interesting question: What does the word “though” mean? It appears in the phone conversation seemingly innocuously, tucked into the middle of a sentence, in this context:
Zelenskyy: I would also like to thank you for your great support in the area of defense. We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps, specifically we are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes.
Trump: I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike…
I didn’t even know what part of speech “though” is, nor could I define it, until I looked it up in the dictionary.* Turns out, it’s a conjunction, and my dictionary offers several definitions, one of them being “however.” But whatever the precise definition, the most important thing it does is to connect the president’s request with Zelenskyy’s prior assertion: you would like more weapons from us, however, I would like you to do us a favor.
I’ve mentioned before that some of Trump’s difficulties arise from his abysmal grasp of the English language, and this may be one example. Were he more skilled at using his mother tongue, he might have left “though” out of that sentence, thereby breaking the link to the previous one. He could then at least preserve the possibility that his request did not imply a quid pro quo. Linked together in this way, the two sentences make the threat of cutting off aid pretty obvious, though.
Switching gears a bit, the events of the past couple of weeks have turned the tide of the Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in favor of aggressively pursuing impeachment. While I thought Pelosi was right to resist as long as she did, it’s clear that her change of direction is the correct one. It would be so even if motivated only by a moral imperative, no matter the political risk. But more than that, I think the political calculus has changed. The current revelations will be enough, when thoroughly investigated and linked with other of Trump’s misdeeds, to guarantee passage of a bill of impeachment. Moreover, they will very possibly be enough to bring about removal from office in a Senate trial.
Today there are just a couple of Republicans in Congress who have publicly declared the revelations “troubling.” If that number reaches a half-dozen or so, others will begin to feel less afraid to speak out. And when that happens, Trump will really blow a gasket, using even nuttier fantasies and more vicious slander of opponents, including some members of his own party. And when that happens, the end is nigh.
* a large book in which the definition, pronunciation, and usage of words is explained.
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