“When words are scarce they are seldom spent in vain.”
October 24, 2010 2:06 PM   Subscribe

Words I love, not to be confused with Words I hate.
posted by Fizz (32 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
This entry is a necessary read, considering.
posted by Fizz at 2:07 PM on October 24, 2010


B-but this blogger hates Meta!
posted by chavenet at 2:09 PM on October 24, 2010


The dark side is strong in this one. Yes. YESSSSSSSSSSS!
posted by 1000monkeys at 2:19 PM on October 24, 2010


Can we as a people promise to banish the phrase Join The Conversation from public life?
posted by The Whelk at 2:31 PM on October 24, 2010


His understanding of the phrase, "I got shit to do," is extremely vague.

First, the inflection he describes in the second example does not occur in nature, and would be meaningless if it did. The inflection of the first example would mean what he thinks the second means. I cite every time I've ever heard this phrase.

Second, there's no reason for the phrase to be abbreviated from, "I ain't got shit to do." "Shit," is commonly used to mean, "nothing." "I got nothing/shit to do."

And "meta" is not a word? Guess what. It is now.

So, to sum up, this guy writes a blog about words and is a prescriptivist, but doesn't understand what at least some of the words (phrases) he's writing about mean. I'm not inspired to read further.
posted by cmoj at 2:38 PM on October 24, 2010 [5 favorites]


cmoj: I thought the same thing on his "I got shit to do" schtick. I mean, he got the inflections all wrong and he bolded the wrong words.
posted by 1000monkeys at 2:51 PM on October 24, 2010


I love "anemone" and he doesn't. I'm not reading shit on this site.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 2:56 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]


I would only use "I got s- to do." to mean I do, in fact, have a lot to do. If I have nothing to do I prefer "I got f- all to do."
posted by monkeymadness at 2:56 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]


I was going to post the same thing about "shit to do" earlier, but I had shit to do. You, apparently, had shit to do.
posted by ericost at 3:05 PM on October 24, 2010 [5 favorites]


This is real snarky, but not real funny.
posted by domnit at 3:35 PM on October 24, 2010 [2 favorites]


I first saw "vag" spelled "vadge" in Nicholson Baker's The Fermata.
posted by Obscure Reference at 3:37 PM on October 24, 2010


... and get off my lawn!
posted by kcds at 3:40 PM on October 24, 2010


Mostly I just feel judged.

And kind of annoyed.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 3:56 PM on October 24, 2010


Meh.
posted by Belle O'Cosity at 4:31 PM on October 24, 2010


I wanted to like this - I guess at least I'm not indifferent so there's that but I disagreed at the dismissal of "kerfuffle" and I moved into active disagreement with the reasoning at "morose". Other than the innate language ability that comes to my species I don't know a thing about language but kerfuffle and morose sound so much like what they describe as to barely need definition* and I like that in my language and don't think language ever suffers because of it. If the author is reading this I suggest and argue that point via "Elephant Talk" by King Crimson. There is a version right here.

I do respect the author for giving a shit and posting it for all to see but I fear they didn't anticipate so many would come to read their diary.

*onomatopoeia of course, I was awake for that one. Also I would have been more interested in developing my writing skills beyond thank-you letters and cover letters if I knew they were going to invent the internet.
posted by vapidave at 4:59 PM on October 24, 2010


moist
posted by danb at 5:06 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]


I first saw "vag" spelled "vadge" in Nicholson Baker's The Fermata.

When are they gonna make the movie of that book already?
posted by fungible at 5:41 PM on October 24, 2010


Splurge
posted by ErikaB at 6:23 PM on October 24, 2010


This would be better if he actually knew more about the words he is describing. He doesn't mention that "cosplay" is a Japanese portmanteau thing hence why it sounds so silly. And he appears to have no idea what the word "dynamics" means in an automotive engineering context. Parts of it are funny but it would be great if it was actually informative (or informed maybe).
posted by theyexpectresults at 6:43 PM on October 24, 2010


He suggests purging the word irony from our language? What a cretin.

It is true that, swimming in a sea of irony as we seem to be these days, that defining it is getting more difficult. But there is no other word that could take its place. Let us not let laziness prompt throwing out the bird with the birdbathwater.
posted by kozad at 7:43 PM on October 24, 2010


meh...phe...shme... language changes.
posted by flyfsh_peter at 7:53 PM on October 24, 2010


Supernumerary
If I met the man who invented this word, I would give him a kiss and then suck his balls dry.


He really likes that word.
posted by stargell at 10:04 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]


stargell: "He really likes that word."

I read that using Eddie Izzard's voice from Dress to Kill, when he says, "You killed five hundred thousand people? You must get up really early in the morning."
posted by iamkimiam at 11:49 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]


This person is a clown. A morose clown.
posted by IvoShandor at 1:38 AM on October 25, 2010


Dear Meffie,

I was sitting in an audience listening to a climate change expert - a PhD college professor with 2 books - talking about different kinds of energy ... fairly impressive ...

until he actually said "nucular".

Should I give him the benefit of the doubt, realizing that he too spent 8 years listening to Shrub's blather ... or never let him darken my doorway again?

Signed, Teeth-gritting
posted by Twang at 1:58 AM on October 25, 2010


P.S. Is there anyone who likes the -name- Bukowski?
posted by Twang at 2:00 AM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]


It's not the prescriptivism or occasional mistakes he makes that turn me off, or that I simply disagree with some of his opinions, it's the grade-three-level sex jokes. That border on creepy or misogynist. Example from that meta entry: "The next person who says 'That’s so meta' is getting an ice pick up the urethra. If said person is male-bodied and has a boner, then down the urethra." This guy reminds me of all the sex-phobic stand-up comedy douchebags my ex used to be best friends with.
posted by Menomena at 4:53 AM on October 25, 2010


Sorry, STILL friends with. That and many other reasons why he's an ex.
posted by Menomena at 5:06 AM on October 25, 2010


it's the grade-three-level sex jokes. That border on creepy or misogynist.

Border on?
posted by kittyprecious at 8:12 AM on October 25, 2010


I didn't think it was possible, but Obscure Reference just made me hate Nicholson Baker even more.
posted by thebrokedown at 2:35 PM on October 25, 2010


Um, I think this blog is awesome.
posted by lunit at 6:34 PM on October 25, 2010


Irony: "And when someone around us, say an acquaintance or close relative uses this word, we can ignore them, or hit them, or stab them in the penis or vagina with a piece of glass. "
Efficient Dynamics: "Now I’m gonna go drink Red Bull with vodka and beat my kids!"
Real: "Like when I tell a girl my cock is 'real fat' and then her mother maces me 'real good'. (I cannot explain why this keeps happening. But then, midwifery is the career I chose.)"
Matriculate: "That girl is crazy! We were matriculating all weekend! Now my balls are all matriculated! Oh christ, I matriculated all over your bathroom. So sorry."
Shallow epicontinental seas: "It would even eat your hairy nutsack after you’ve been wrestling."
Ersatz: "Or say you have sex with a girl who is too drunk to refuse your advances. This is what you and your frat boy friends call ersatz consent. Then when the university looks the other way and let’s you off with a warning, while the young lady you had your way with is forced to transfer to another school out of public humiliation, that’s what we call ersatz justice."
Vag: "one crams objects in a vag" (etc.)
Supernumerary: "If I met the man who invented this word, I would give him a kiss and then suck his balls dry. And I’m not even remotely gay. "

Right. Or sexually repressed.
posted by Menomena at 11:50 AM on October 26, 2010


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