notching a major victory in their culture wars' battle

[GoodTaste]

Gay's resignation, for whom a cloud of plagiarism charges followed the related criticism, takes place against a backdrop of turmoil on American campuses and in this case, exposes the hand of far-right activists who care more about notching a major victory in their culture wars' battle to delegitimize Ivy League institutions as a battle than they do about antisemitism or the safety of Jewish students.

Source: Haaretz

The phasing "notching a major victory in their culture wars' battle" does not sound natural in English to me, though the meaning the clear enough.

I wonder what is the natural wordingif you wrote it.

 

[Tarheel]

It's natural enough.

 

[jutfrank]

Which bit doesn't sound natural to you?

 

[GoodTaste]

Which bit doesn't sound natural to you?

Especially the part of "wars' battle" in "notching a major victory in their culture wars' battle to delegitimize Ivy League institutions", it sounds perticularly unnatural and awkward to me.

Why not just "notching a major victory in their culture wars to delegitimize Ivy League institutions"?

It is a victory in the war. No need the mention "battle" again.

 

[teechar]

The battle to delegitimize Ivy League institutions is part of their cultural wars.

 

[GoodTaste]

The battle to delegitimize Ivy League institutions is part of their cultural wars.

Are you saying that "notching a major victory in their culture wars to delegitimize Ivy League institutions" is not clear enough in English?

 

[jutfrank]

Are you saying that "notching a major victory in their culture wars to delegitimize Ivy League institutions" is not clear enough in English?

That doesn't include the word battle, which is a crucial part of the meaning.

I don't really understand what your problem is with the original. Is it something to do with the word battle? Look at it like this: There's a victory, which is part of a battle, which is part of a war. Delegitimising Ivy League institutions is the goal of the battle.

 

[GoodTaste]

Look at it like this: There's a victory, which is part of a battle, which is part of a war. Delegitimising Ivy League institutions is the goal of the battle.

I understand the original as this: There are many victories in a war and this is a major one.

Using the word "battle" makes things more concrete, yes. But a war is comprised of many battles. It is common sense, so simply mentioning "a major victory in their culture wars" is sufficient to make things clear. It is redundant to bring up the word "battle".

 

[Tarheel]

@GoodTaste I don't know that I would use the word "redundant" there, but I agree that "battle" is unnecessary. There is a famous quote from Churchill in which he says that the Allies did something unprecedented. They achieved victory. (That they won a battle was understand.)

"I have never promised anything but blood, tears, toil and sweat. Now however we have a new experience. We have a victory -- a remarkable and definite victory. The bright gleam has caught the helmets of our soldiers and warmed and cheered all our hearts."
~Winston Churchill

 

[jutfrank]

It is redundant to bring up the word "battle".

I understand what you're saying, but no, it's not 'redundant' to use the word battle since it's the central part of the meaning.

The to-infinitive clause (to delegitimize Ivy League institutions) is playing an important part in this, since it complements the word battle. Look at the following two grammatical patterns:

the battle [to do something]
the fight [to do something]

the war [to do something]

This last one doesn't work. We normally say:

the war [for something]

 

[GoodTaste]

In addition, what is "as a battle" in "the hand of far-right activists who care more about notching a major victory in their culture wars' battle to delegitimize Ivy League institutions as a battle than they do about antisemitism or the safety of Jewish students"?

Is "notching a major victory" "as a battle"? Or "their culture wars' battle" "as a battle"? The latter is grammatically impossible but I have to guess at random right now.

 

[emsr2d2]

In addition, what is "as a battle" in "the hand of far-right activists who care more about notching a major victory in their culture wars' battle to delegitimize Ivy League institutions as a battle than they do about antisemitism or the safety of Jewish students"?

Is "notching a major victory" "as a battle"? Or "their culture wars' battle" "as a battle"? The latter is grammatically impossible but I have to guess at random right now.

@GoodTaste Please note that I have edited your last post. If you've already put the words you're asking us to look at (or exemplifying) in quotation marks, there is no need to then also put them in bold, or put them in red, or underline them (and certainly not all three!)

 

[Tarheel]

@GoodTaste
Notching a major victory is equivalent to winning a battle.

Please stop using "as a battle".

 

[Skrej]

'notching a victory' is an allusion to the (here metaphorical) practice of making notches (or similar marks) on the handle of your weapon to count your victories.

See this excerpt (except that ironically the killer is notching the victim's own weapon with the owner's own death). Note that the weapon had been previously notched 44 times, referenced earlier in the film. (Violence, gore, and language warning).

This lead to the related practice in more modern times of 'victory markings'.

The battle is ongoing. Gay's resignation was just another successful victory in that ongoing battle.

 

[jutfrank]

Is "notching a major victory" "as a battle"? Or "their culture wars' battle" "as a battle"?

I've given some considerable thought to the phrase as a battle, and I can't make sense of it nor understand what it's doing grammatically in the sentence. If you remove this offending part, the sentence is fine and makes good sense.

If I had to guess what the writer was thinking, I'd break it down like this:

1) [They] care more about X than Y.

X = notching a major victory in their culture wars' battle to delegitimise Ivy League institutions [as a battle]

The bracketed part is extraneous. Without it, there's no problem.

I think what the writer may have been thinking is that they care more characterising X as a battle than anything else, like this:

2) [They] care more about characterising X as a battle than Y.

I don't think the sentence is right as it stands. It seems as if there's a verb missing. It could just be an editing oversight.