# Boyo Jim and other prose Nazis: get the fuck over yourselves. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 15, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411 "2013-05-15T15:44:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/41 "2013-05-15T19:07:27Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Is this your first time in the Pit, dicknose\*? > > \*I don’t actually think you’re a dicknose. But it’s the Pit, so… You know who else was a dicknose? Pinocchio! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/42 "2013-05-15T19:15:14Z")
Since we’re writing about Dorothy Parker, here are my favorite lines of hers: > [@](#): > > [The Poetry of Dorothy Parker](http://www.thelovelys.com/poetry-parker-800.htm) > > Her mind lives tidily, apart > From cold and noise and pain, > And bolts the door against her heart, > Out wailing in the rain. That is the saddest verse I have ever read. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/43 "2013-05-15T19:17:54Z")
Oh geeze. That is surprisingly evocative. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/44 "2013-05-15T19:22:30Z")
“I like to have a martini, Two at the very most. After three I’m under the table, after four I’m under my host.” ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/45 "2013-05-15T19:25:15Z")
"Once when I was young and true Someone left me sad. Broke my brittle heart in two And that was very bad. Love is for unlucky folk. Love is but a curse. Once there was a heart I broke And that I think is worse." ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/46 "2013-05-15T19:36:28Z")
Burma Shave ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/47 "2013-05-15T19:40:59Z")
Here I sit, Broken-hearted… ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/48 "2013-05-15T19:44:07Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > You know who else was a dicknose? > > Pinocchio! > **[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - 2009-12-13](http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=1728)** > > Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - 2009-12-13 ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/49 "2013-05-15T19:52:31Z")
Roses are red, violets are blue, my cats breath smells like cat food. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/50 "2013-05-15T20:26:11Z")
As she walked through the snow, the hail and blinding sleet, her head was full of worries and her shoes were full of feet. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/51 "2013-05-15T20:48:36Z")
Roses are red Violets are blue. Most poems rhyme. But this one doesn’t. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/52 "2013-05-15T21:08:51Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And as I would say, they sounded conversational to me. He’s not writing a novel, he’s posting on a message board (and even if he were writing a novel, it might be appropriate given the tone he wanted to convey.) Nothing about the style to me screamed “must be pointed out by a pedant!” I agree. I was just giving my opinion on the writing in question; I didn’t find it excellent, but I did would not have criticized him for it (maybe if he was writing a story and was asking for criticism, then I would). > [@pulykamell](#): > > 🙂 Thanks for pointing that out. “Flow” is such a shitty/inexact word to use when critiquing prose. It means, essentially, whatever the hell the author/reader wants it to mean. It is devoid of content. (ETA: And I’m sure I’ve used it myself before. But it’s still a meaningless descriptor.) Now you’ve got me wondering how to better describe it - but it _was_ choppy, and it _didn’t_ have a good flow! 🙂 His sentences were too short, and they would have read better if they were longer? ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/53 "2013-05-15T21:20:30Z")
I agree that **BoyoJim** was out of line. Good modding there, glad he was already upbraided accordingly. But frankly? I think the OP of the original thread is yet another sympathy troll. And I think the big clue is that with dozens of helpful replies, one of his two responses was to **BoyoJim** – with the terse “Storytelling has never been my forte.” Doesn’t that sound like a smirking way to mock everyone who’s bought his story? I may very well be wrong. I’m sure lots of lurkers delurk with tales of woe. I just find it really bizarre when people do that, and my suspicious nature puts me on my guard. Consider this a bookmark so that when the sadsack OP returns with some other Pajama-Girl type of tale where everyone gets all caught up in the ANGST and DRAMA, I can just nod knowingly with sympathy for those who end up embittered. Is that, um, 'kay? 😉 (Again, as I said, I’m very possibly wrong. And it doesn’t make what **BoyoJim** said any more appropriate.) ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/54 "2013-05-15T21:38:00Z")
Well, you know, choie, in a post-umkay world, every new poster is going to get some detectives on the case. But, like you have admitted, that doesn’t make Boyo’s post any less silly. ETA: But yeah, I couldn’t read “storytelling has never been my forte” without thinking of the famous last line in Saki’s Open Window, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/55 "2013-05-15T21:58:01Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Now you’ve got me wondering how to better describe it - but it _was_ choppy, and it _didn’t_ have a good flow! 🙂 His sentences were too short, and they would have read better if they were longer? Sure. The essay lacks subordination and relies on simple sentences and sentence fragments to carry the brunt of the narrative. I would suggest using conjunctive words and phrases to lengthen the average sentence length which will provide a more satisfying rhythm. Rather than mention a few rather abstract concepts, I’ve listed discrete items i.e. subordination, simple sentences and fragments, that have well-defined and accepted meanings and will be mentioned in any good writer’s book and suggested a method for eliminating the aforementioned problems. Now, there’s no guarantee that the essay will be any better for having followed my method but it gives the writer something to work with. If your writing doesn’t flow, presumably you’re not recognizing what is ‘flowy’ writing and what isn’t because after all, if you knew, you wouldn’t write like that, would you? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/56 "2013-05-15T22:09:24Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, Boyo got his well-deserved warning, so how about some praise for Idle Thoughts rather than scorn for Boyo, unless you prefer being all negative and shit. You want positive stuff? Okay. At least **Boyo Jim** isn’t all righteously indignant in this thread, like most Dopers (including myself at times) would be. Kudos, dude. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/57 "2013-05-15T22:13:22Z")
He’s still a butthole though. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/58 "2013-05-15T22:18:08Z")
I agree it was out of line, but I’ve never pegged **Boyo Jim** as an a-hole before. Maybe he was just having a bad day. Or maybe I’ve missed some greatest hits… ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/59 "2013-05-15T23:46:24Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Sure. The essay lacks subordination and relies on simple sentences and sentence fragments to carry the brunt of the narrative. I would suggest using conjunctive words and phrases to lengthen the average sentence length which will provide a more satisfying rhythm. > Rather than mention a few rather abstract concepts, I’ve listed discrete items i.e. subordination, simple sentences and fragments, that have well-defined and accepted meanings and will be mentioned in any good writer’s book and suggested a method for eliminating the aforementioned problems. Now, there’s no guarantee that the essay will be any better for having followed my method but it gives the writer something to work with. If your writing doesn’t flow, presumably you’re not recognizing what is ‘flowy’ writing and what isn’t because after all, if you knew, you wouldn’t write like that, would you? And you know what really pisses me off? People who ask physicy questions without a single equation in the post. Geezus Christ. Fracking peasants almost all of you. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411/60 "2013-05-16T00:50:51Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > You want positive stuff? Okay. At least **Boyo Jim** isn’t all righteously indignant in this thread, like most Dopers (including myself at times) would be. Kudos, dude. I was reading along and thinking, huh, I wonder if Boyo Jim’s going to pull a Der Trihs and not acknowledge some accurate flames. That behavior is weak, childish, and deprives me of entertainment. Just because you suck at defending your stupid, indefensible opinions doesn’t mean refusal to defend them is praiseworthy. Quite the contrary: your inept flailings are funny, which makes them of value, and therefore must be encouraged. I suppose you might also learn something from the criticism but that’s beside the point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boyo-jim-and-other-prose-nazis-get-the-fuck-over-yourselves/658411.md?page=4)