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   isabella-martin Student
   College - Senior

   eNotes Editor

   Cunning, or craftiness/ skilful deceit, technically means the same thing today as it did in the early 20th century when Joyce was writing. It is used less often in modern day language however, and thus to use it in casual day to day interaction would probably sound awkward and unnatural. To use the word cunning today would likely imbue the speaker with a certain affectedness. In Joyce's time the word cunning was used with more frequency, and in turn its usage would not bring with it the same sense of pretention.

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   http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-cunning.html

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   Posted by isabella-martin on Tuesday July 7, 2009 at 11:44 PM