what does "beyond the pale '' mean, and ''devils advocate''?

Answer 1

From Jon Pearce: “Any idea where beyond the pail comes from and what it means?”

[A] That’s a common misspelling these days because the word that really belongs in the expression has gone out of use except in this one case. The expression is properly beyond the pale. That word pale has nothing to do with the adjective for something light in colour except that both come from Latin roots. The one referring to colour is from the Latin verb pallere, to be pale, whilst our one is from palus, a stake.

A pale is an old name for a pointed stake driven into the ground to form part of a fence and—by obvious extension—to a barrier made of such stakes, a fence (our modern word paling is from the same source, as are pole and impale). This meaning has been around in English since the fourteenth century. By 1400 it had taken on various figurative senses, such as a defence, a safeguard, a barrier, an enclosure, or a limit beyond which it was not permissible to go.

In particular, it was used to describe various defended enclosures of territory inside other countries. For example, the English pale in France in the fourteenth century was the territory of Calais, the last English possession in that country. The best-known modern example is the Russian Pale, between 1791 up to the Revolution in 1917, which were specified provinces and districts within which Russian Jews were required to live. Another famous one is the Pale in Ireland, that part of the country over which England had direct jurisdiction—it varied from time to time, but was an area of several counties centred on Dublin. The first mention of the Irish Pale is in a document of 1446–7. Though there was an attempt later in the century to enclose the Pale by a bank and ditch (which was never completed), there never was a literal fence around it.

The expression beyond the pale, meaning outside the bounds of acceptable behaviour, came much later. The idea behind it was that civilisation stopped at the boundary of the pale and beyond lay those who were not under civilised control and whose behaviour therefore was not that of gentlemen. A classic example appears in The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, dated 1837: “I look upon you, sir, as a man who has placed himself beyond the pale of society, by his most audacious, disgraceful, and abominable public conduct”. The earliest example I’ve found is from Sir Walter Scott in 1819.

It may be older than this, but it surely doesn’t date back to the period of the Irish Pale, or anywhere near. It is often said that it does come directly from that political enclosure, but the three-century gap renders that very doubtful indeed. The idea behind it is definitely the same, though.

Answer 2

Beyond the pale mean that you are doing something that is not acceptable.

A devil's advocate is someone who argues the opposite side to make sure that you mean what you say.

Answer 3

If someone or some behavior is refered to as being" beyond the pale" it means that it or he/she is socially unacceptable.
A "Devil's Advocate" is some one who argues the negative side in a debate only to create interest or even drama. The individual may not believe what he/she is saying. It is just argument.

Answer 4

A devil's advocate is someone who takes a position on the 'devil's' side in order to make the other side think more about the subject and hopefully create sensible debate. You do not have to agree with your arguement but able to sustain it enough for the others to perhaps re-think or more fully think their position. For example you may be a devil's advocate to argue that the invasion of Iraq was a good thing and argue that the importance of deposing someone who was mostly hated outweighed the fact that a mighty power and their allies bullied a small state by invading their territory to depose someone purely because they didn't like them by making up stories of weapons and the like and causing many hundreds of people to die needlessly.

Answer 5

It skill taking an opposing perspective to the speaker's. in case you have been to place forth an thought and that i mentioned "enable me play the devil's recommend" i might then supply you factors of ways your thought ought to fail or create a worse concern. It skill being the voice of the devil in essence. no be counted if or not you settle with the unique thought. it somewhat is a skill of finding at something from diverse angles.