Magister Dixit

It is well known that Grice once had to fail a student. She kept saying,

"Aristotle said it"

"Aristotle said it"

"Aristotle said it".

Grice started to get irritated. He had taken a course on "Anger-Management" offered by the Inter-disciplinary department for interdisciplinary studies, but this was a bit too much.

"Surely you cannot expect everything Aristotle said was _right_."

"Why not", she asked. "I'm using 'said' it _factively_."

And right she was. Grice gave her an A+.

Years later he reflected: 'amor theologicus' is just as good as 'odium theologicum'.

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deictic: [ad. Gr. deiktikos, able to show, showing directly, f. dektos vbl.
adj. of deiknunai -- to show.

The Greek word occurs in Latin medical and rhetorical writers as dicticos, which would give dictic; but the term is purely academic, and the form deictic or deiktic is preferred as more distinctly preserving both in spelling and pronunciation the Greek form. Cf. apodictic, -deictic.] Directly pointing out, demonstrative; in Logic, applied, after Aristotle, to reasoning which proves directly, as opposed to the elenctic, which proves indirectly. Also in Grammar and as n. 1828 WHATELY Rhet. I. ii. §1 Thirdly into ‘Direct’ and ‘Indirect’ (or reductio ad absurdum) the Deictic and Elenctic of Aristotle.

--- the ref. being to Anal. Priora 45a24, etc. -- see below quotes in
Liddell/Scott, and thus sharing some of the semantic field of 'demonstrative' (as
in Grammar -- cfr. Kaplan, The logic of demonstratives, and _This_ sentence is
false. ).

from the Liddell/Scott:

deiktos, ê, on,
A. capable of proof, Aristotle Analutica Posteriora 76b27.
2. perceptible, Phlp.in Categoriae 88.21.

deiktikos , ê, on,
A. able to show: in Logic, of syllogisms, those which can be directly
reduced,
Aristotle Analutica Priora 45a24; deiktika enthumêma, opp. elenktikon, Id
Rhetorika 1396b24. Adv. deiktikôs Analutica Priora 29a31 .
2. categorical, protasis Stoic.2.85 .

II. Gramm., demonstrative, to "touto" deiktikon Chrysipp.Stoic.2.65 ;
deiktikon onoma D.T. 636.12 ; arthra Apollod.Ath.and D.T.ap.A.D.Pron.5.19;
antônumia ib.9.17: -ôterai gignomenai (sc. antônumiai) proslambanousi to i_ ib.
59.16: -kon, to, Demetr.Eloc.289. Adv.-kôs Chrysipp.Stoic.2.245 , Plu.2.747d,
S.E.M.7.267.

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L. dicare, which the OED translates as "to make known". [ad. L. indict-,
ppl. stem of indicare to point out, show, mention, etc.; f. in- (IN-2) + dicare
to make known.

Indeed, while the factivity of 'make known' is _very_ interesting, the
Short/Lewis add 'deico' as an alternate spelling and paraphrases as:

To describe, relate, sing, celebrate To pronounce, articulate To call, to
name To name, appoint To appoint, set apart. fix upon, settle To utter, express
to tell one so and so, for to admonish, warn, threaten
Hence, dictum , i, n., something said, i. e. a saying, a word.

Etc.