As the address began, Trump hit a series of surprisingly hopeful notes, with declarations of "a new tide of optimism" and praise for the nation including an unusually ego-less assertion that "our state of the union is strong because our people are strong".
Or – less an assertion of truth than an expression of incredulity – This is London?
This year's march was less an assertion of outrage and shell-shocked solidarity than a goal-setting exercise.
But, as Deutscher points out, there is evidence to support the less radical assertion that the particular language we speak influences how we perceive the world.
By Margaret Talbot January 21, 2018 The 2018 Women's March was less an assertion of outrage and shell-shocked solidarity than a goal-setting exercise.
In 1975 the precocious rector of Edinburgh University brushed nationalism aside as: "less an assertion of Scotland's permanence as a nation than a response to Scotland's uneven development".
When, in the midst of Musset's crisis, Sand takes up with a a dull, handsome Venetian doctor (Stefano Dionisi), it seems less an assertion of her independence than a recognition of her helpless dependence on men.
Bridge of Spies begins with the claim "inspired by true events", which has taken over from "based on a true story" as an even less committal assertion of realism in cinema.
But McGee has taken it upon herself to make the case less through assertion or argument than through anecdote and appeal to authority: she goes into great detail about individual deals and personnel moves, and regularly quotes grand old men of the banking industry when they say something she agrees with.
E.g., in our example, the violation of two less specific assertions counter-balances the violation of the more specific assertion.
But in contemporary American life, even less ardent assertions of superior taste are accompanied by a feeling of shame.
