Language lessons from The Hateful Eight

Still feel a bit oomy after watching it last night. It’s a “Feel oomy movie”.

But leaving aside the more broadly themed criticisms of plot structure (pretty good) acting (overbaked), there were a couple of interesting linguistic points. I was completely unaware of the historical connotations attached to the expression “Lost cause”, but now I’m not, thanks to Wikipedia.

Then at one point one character asks another if they’re not being “paranoid”. This is an “anachronism” as the word was coined around the turn of the century, well after the setting of the movie and before all fun was destroyed by my pedantry.

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