OH,man…Sue.
I liked that post very much good. I laugh very much lots. I laugh still. It is good. Sue is good. Sue is funny. Funny Sue.
(BTW, I fourth it…and I’m submitting it to Opalcat’s, just in case anyone else hasn’t already.)
“Excrement. That is what I think of J. Evans Pritchard, PhD.” --Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society
Chris’ Homepage: Domestic Bliss
Two things:
Thing the first – I appreciate good vocabulary and the well crafted sentence as much (or even more) as the next guy. Big words don’t bother me. But using a two dollar word when a fifty-cent one will do is annoying and pretentious. That’s what I took the OP to mean. I didn’t think it was a blanket denouncement of good vocabulary, simply a knock on folks who say “utilize” when they mean “use”.
The second thing – On substance over form. I am well documented on this board as one who values form as well as substance. I confess, I am a grammar cop.
Yes, the substance of a poster’s ideas are important. But the way those ideas are communicated (the form) contributes to the total substance of the ideas conveyed. It’s like Marshall McLuhan said, the Medium is the Message. The way you choose to communicate your ideas tells me something about you and the message you are trying to communicate.
A post with poor grammar or vocabulary tells me something. When I read a poorly drafted post, I (fairly or otherwise) conclude the poster is either: a) dumb, b) uneducated or c) too lazy to take the time to present his ideas well. That opinion about the source of the ideas influences my perception of the substance of the ideas presented.
Bottom line, in my experience, is that people who have good ideas usually care enough about them to communicate them clearly.
Plunging like stones from a slingshot on Mars.
Call me nutty, but why is it that if someone appreciates the ribald wit of, say Benny Hill or Monty Python (or, dare say, Howard Stern), yet also enjoys more cerebral entertainment, like Garrison Keilor or Woody Allen, they are considered well-rounded, but if someone acts in both ways, they are being a jerk?
Yer pal,
Satan
Here’s what I think. Some writing is strictly informative (business writing). Some writing is entertaining (books and shit like that). Some is a little of both (the SDMB). I say, use all the flash you can muster to make me laugh or cry, and use clear, understandable vocabulary to teach me something. That doesn’t mean you have to use strictly monosyllabic words and stick-figure drawings. Good writing gets the point across and reflects the “voice” of the writer. 'kay?
MajorMD sez:
Good girl. clap clap I applaud.
Watching you make a joke is interesting in the same way as watching a dog play piano is. It’s not as much that he can play it well as that he plays it at all.
Satan: But like Frankd6 said, saying ‘utilize’ instead of ‘use’ doesn’t make you a good writer, or brainy, or witty, or anything. It’s just annoying.
tracer sez:
Are you sure? I thought it was just about the Russian language, since so much of the rest of the book refelects communism. In Russian you also say ungood and so on.
It also makes sense because the communist party like to make words like politburo.
Shirley: I’m sure he meant something or otter.
Ah hahahahahaha! Here’s a little tidbit cribbed directly from good old Konrad’s website.
Maybe he does understand satire after all.
Dopeler effect:
The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
Sorry I didn’t reply to this before–didn’t bother to read it until someone pointed it out to me.
Sir, I would like to inform you that I use the word Sir to address you because that indicates that I want to distance myself from you because you are a stupid jerk. I hope that is simple enough for you. Having pretty old fashioned manners, I believe that addressing you by name would indicate that I would actually associate with someone as repulsive as you. And, yes, I do talk that way because I enjoy doing so.
I only address friends and respectable people by name.
MR. SPACELY: Jetsooooooon! What are you doing?!
JETSON [caught off-guard]: Goofing off, SIR!
Heh, heh, heh.
Dang! Got to remember to keep short –
Eh, eh, eh.
P.S.: Tris. I’m rather impressed.
Tsk, tsk. The hoi polloi, getting uppity and pretentions to education.
Don’t it make your blue blood curdle?
Well, sheeeYIT, I’d sure like to take on ol’ Konrad here, but he sure is just too sharp and subtle for the likes of me. He’s just a master of sarcasm and well placed emphasis and high thought.
Yessir, he’s just so fine he’s a threat and a reproach to all lowly scum who have the goddamn gall to aspire to his heights.
Dunno, since he seems to be full of something I say we use him for fencing practice and see what dribbles out.
En garde.
Veb