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Re: Is English getting more simple?
Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 9:32 am
by PLAYER57832
thegreekdog wrote:pimpdave wrote:thegreekdog wrote:I... was taught to use less language to make my point.
Chandler wrote that the hardest and most time consuming part of writing was making it short. Just read one of his novels and you'll see the benefit for yourself.
However, this is a forum. Most of us are tapping on the fly, or with an ear over our shoulder, wondering who might be creeping on our cubicle.
That leads to two different outcomes: awkward, short statements that don't benefit from the kind of revision that requires at least three revisits to the material or long, rambly posts that don't benefit from the kind of revision that makes a lot of material succinct. Which, of course, also requires at least three reworks and often at least an overnight break before the third revisiting.
This means we should not really expect a standard of elegance any higher than that of a rough draft on these message boards.
True. But I prefer long rambling posts to posts like "UR GAY."
guilty as charged
However, some things can be said succinctly and some things cannot.
Re: Is English getting more simple?
Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 9:52 am
by mpjh
You can say anything succinctly; it just takes some thought before typing.
Re: Is English getting more simple?
Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 1:05 pm
by PLAYER57832
mpjh wrote:You can say anything succinctly; it just takes some thought before typing.
Yep, you can condense most novels into 2 sentences... but I'd still rather read the novels, thank you!
And succinct or not, truly explaining how a forest ecosystem works or how to build a rocketship or how polychaets can live around sulphure vents takes longer than explaining how to plant a seed.
Re: Is English getting more simple?
Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 1:08 pm
by MeDeFe
PLAYER57832 wrote:mpjh wrote:You can say anything succinctly; it just takes some thought before typing.
Yep, you can condense most novels into 2 sentences... but I'd still rather read the novels, thank you!
I wouldn't go so far as to say all novels can be summed up in two sentences, but certainly no more than 30 seconds.
Re: Is English getting more simple?
Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 1:39 pm
by jonesthecurl
Proust, certainly.
Re: Is English getting more simple?
Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 6:55 am
by pimpdave
PLAYER57832 wrote:Yep, you can condense most novels into 2 sentences... but I'd still rather read the novels, thank you!
What if it's the last chapter of
Ulysses?
BOOM!
roasted.
Re: Is English getting more simple?
Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 7:07 am
by Snorri1234
InkL0sed wrote:And again:
I'm defining "simple" in terms of the expansiveness of the grammar.
Why?
Re: Is English getting more simple?
Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 7:11 am
by Almo
thegreekdog wrote:pimpdave wrote:thegreekdog wrote:I... was taught to use less language to make my point.
Chandler wrote that the hardest and most time consuming part of writing was making it short. Just read one of his novels and you'll see the benefit for yourself.
However, this is a forum. Most of us are tapping on the fly, or with an ear over our shoulder, wondering who might be creeping on our cubicle.
That leads to two different outcomes: awkward, short statements that don't benefit from the kind of revision that requires at least three revisits to the material or long, rambly posts that don't benefit from the kind of revision that makes a lot of material succinct. Which, of course, also requires at least three reworks and often at least an overnight break before the third revisiting.
This means we should not really expect a standard of elegance any higher than that of a rough draft on these message boards.
True. But I prefer long rambling posts to posts like "UR GAY."
well you are kind of gay
Re: Is English getting more simple?
Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 7:18 am
by thegreekdog
Almo wrote:well you are kind of gay
Then the person should type - "I think you are gay" rather than typing "UR Gay." I'd lend more credence to the former rather than the latter.
Re: Is English getting more simple?
Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 7:20 am
by jonesthecurl
pimpdave wrote:PLAYER57832 wrote:Yep, you can condense most novels into 2 sentences... but I'd still rather read the novels, thank you!
What if it's the last chapter of
Ulysses?
BOOM!
roasted.
I can condense the whole of
Ulysses into one word.
Burble.