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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary
His holier-than-thou attitude will be justified
If someone's holier-than-thou attitude has been justified, does that mean he is now a holy?
I found this expression in a book. A man is taking revenge on his enemy, who is acting self-righteously, and he thinks the enemy's holier-than-thou attitude will be justified when he defeats him.
At first I thought he meant the enemy would be punished for his behavior, but no dictionaries support this interpretation of "justify/justified." Then I'm wondering if he is trying to give the enemy a right reason to behave like that by making him a really holy existence. I'm not sure if making someone a holy can imply taking his life or just forcing him to regret to the extent he believes in a higher power, though.
Could you please tell me how this "justify" should be interpreted?
Thank you.
I found this expression in a book. A man is taking revenge on his enemy, who is acting self-righteously, and he thinks the enemy's holier-than-thou attitude will be justified when he defeats him.
At first I thought he meant the enemy would be punished for his behavior, but no dictionaries support this interpretation of "justify/justified." Then I'm wondering if he is trying to give the enemy a right reason to behave like that by making him a really holy existence. I'm not sure if making someone a holy can imply taking his life or just forcing him to regret to the extent he believes in a higher power, though.
Could you please tell me how this "justify" should be interpreted?
Thank you.
Top answer
If I say Tom has a holier than thou attitude , it has nothing to do with holiness or religion. It's an ironic way of saying that Tom thinks he is more perfect, better, than the other person. But it implies that the speaker does not in fact think Tom is perfect or better.
- If I say Tom has a holier than thou attitude , it has nothing to do with holiness or religion.
- It's an ironic way of saying that Tom thinks he is more perfect, better, than the other person.
- But it implies that the speaker does not in fact think Tom is perfect or better.
- Your text about justifying makes no sense to me.
- Clive
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3 Answers
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If I say Tom has a holier than thou attitude, it has nothing to do with holiness or religion. It's an ironic way of saying that Tom thinks he is more perfect, better, than the other person. But it implies that the speaker does not in fact think Tom is perfect or better.
Your text about justifying makes no sense to me
Your text about justifying makes no sense to me
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It doesn't make much sense to me, either. Do you suppose the writer misused the word? Perhaps he intended to say that the enemy would receive the justice he deserves.
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Thank you for your help, Clive and Blue Jay.
Blue JayDo you suppose the writer misused the word? Perhaps he intended to say that the enemy would receive the justice he deserves.Yes, I think it is very likely now. When I considered that possibility, I thought it was strange as "justice" is not used as a verb and that "justified" cannot be taken as a simple typo.
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