There is a big difference between an anecdote and an antidote

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a post by Dr. John Livingston at the Gem State Patriot News blog on August 2, 2025 titled Factions and Bullies. His subject was the tenth Federalist Paper by James Madison, published in November 1787 and titled The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection (continued). John began the seventh paragraph by claiming (my italics):

 

“Madison asserted and I must paraphrase that the anecdote for factional violence is a large Union with diverse life experiences and a common moral ethic.”

 

But there is a big difference between an antidote and an anecdote. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an anecdote is:

 

“A usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident.”

 

And an antidote instead is:

 

“A remedy to counteract the effects of poison”

                                         or

“Something that relieves, prevents, or counteracts“

 

As usual, Dr. Livingston didn’t bother to proofread what he wrote. Perhaps he just dictated it.  Rather ironically on July 27, 2025 he blogged about What’s in a Word. I last blogged about another mixup in a post on July 25, 2025 titled There are haves and have nots; but there are just two halves, and no halve nots.

 

An image of a story book came from OpenClipArt, and an image of a medicine bottle was adapted from the Library of Congress.