#Chalk and cheese how to

Keynes, a budding mathematician, published his dissertation-a treatise on probability theory-which Bertrand Russell (1922, 119) would describe as вЂthe most important work on probability that has appeared for a very long timeвЂ™. In the year 1921, the centenary of which we celebrate in this special issue, two seminal works appeared by bourgeoning economists: John Maynard Keynes and Frank H. By more fully and accurately placing their ideas within the context of their ideological priors, we gain a stronger sense of how they truly understood the mechanics of economies. In short, Knight and Keynes held to radically different philosophic assumptions and, consequently, derived distinctive theories of uncertainty, much further apart than previously supposed. Knight, in stark contrast, was something of a radical liberal, holding uncertainty and paradox to be the permeating fact of human existence, which implied, for Knight, significant political and economic complexities far beyond any planner.

Keynes, far from a liberal, was a political socialist who supposed that economic futures could be predicted rationally via deduced probabilities (in an abstract sense) and concluded that expert economists could and should engage in economic planning. We show that neither Keynes nor Knight has been considered fairly by history. We critically review the historical records and writings of these key scholars with the purpose of dehomogenising their political philosophies, scientific epistemologies and their famous works on uncertainty, published in the same year-1921. Furthermore, even their political philosophies are historically somewhat homogenised, both considered вЂliberalsвЂ™. Q: I still want to know why вЂњchalkвЂќ and вЂњcheeseвЂќ?ДЄ: Besides the fact that they did bear some passing likeness, you need to remember that this was poetry, so the simple repetition of вЂњchвЂќ sounds with short single-syllable words was probably enough.For many years, the ideas of Knight and Keynes have been widely understood to overlap greatly and they are presumed to have developed notions of uncertainty that deeply intersect, both describing a state where outcomes have non-probabilistic likelihoods. The expression itself took hold properly during the 1500s вЂ“ and weвЂ™ve chalked it up ever since. But over time, it became more like вЂњnight and dayвЂќ to be what Macquarie DictionaryВ now defines as вЂњcomplete oppositesвЂќ. Q: Oh, so more like вЂњapples and orangesвЂќвЂ“ if you squint from 100 metres away.ДЄ: Yes perhaps. Q: So did it mean the same thing back then?ДЄ: Well, initially the phrase was subtly different to today вЂ“ implying that two things were вЂњsuperficially alikeвЂќ but totally different in their qualities. Q: Ouch, 33,000 lines? WouldnвЂ™t have wanted to be in the audience at that open-mic poetry nightвЂ¦

You see, it was an old proverbial phrase that first appeared in a 33,000-line poem called Confessio AmantisВ by John Gower. Q: True, but Uncle Jarrod and logic were like chalk and cheese.ДЄ: Very old. Q: My uncle Jarrod actually owned an orchard and used to pick the fruit after dark for exactly that reason. Q: But some of those crumbly dry cheeses actually do look a bit chalk-like.ДЄ: Well, that may be so, but in general, the original meaning was about differences вЂ“ akin to saying something is like вЂњapples and orangesвЂќ or like вЂњnight and dayвЂќ. вЂњbirds of a featherвЂќ, вЂњpeas in a podвЂќ, вЂњ Happy as LarryвЂќ and so on, this one is pointing out the differences. The actual interesting part is that while we have plenty of sayings that talk about how similar things are вЂ“ e.g. Q: Okay, so youвЂ™re playing the English card again.ДЄ: ItвЂ™s a handy card to have. Okay, so in answer to вЂњwhy chalk and cheese?вЂќ, we can easily sum that up with вЂњbecause EnglishвЂќвЂ¦ Q: Wow, okay вЂ“ but where did it come from? And WHY chalk and cheese? Why didnвЂ™t we end up with вЂњlike whiteboard markers and avocadoвЂќ?ДЄ: Perhaps thatвЂ™s the 21st century version.ДЄ: Good point.

Okay, well it sounds like those two cupboards are like chalk and cheese вЂ“ as in theyвЂ™re so very different from each other.ДЄ: And fun fact вЂ“ this phrase means NOTHING to Americans. Q: On fire hose cupboard inspection days, definitely not.ДЄ: Right.

Q: Yes, itвЂ™s next to the fire hose cupboard.ДЄ: Oh, is that the one we canвЂ™t put anything in front of? Q: Hi AWC, I was cleaning out the request cupboard and saw that Kayleigh has asked us about the origin of the phrase, вЂњlike chalk and cheeseвЂќвЂ¦ This week we are adding cheese to our avo on toast! ItвЂ™s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness.

#Chalk and cheese how to

How to Build a Successful Freelance Copywriting BusinessД®ach week here at the Australian WritersвЂ™ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness.