The Ugliest Truth - Bad Writing

[ApK]

Any eyeballs-in-the-armpit novels out there?
Don

Well, a very short story by Philip K. Dick, anyway.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by ApK

Well, a very short story by Philip K. Dick, anyway.

I'm a Philip K. Dick fan and I wasn't even aware of this story! THANK YOU!

This is an amazing short-short story, and goes right to the heart of the matter. Even now, I shudder to think how much the aliens have taken over. I would give my right arm to know more.....if you know what I mean!


Don

[JLeighs]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Definitely "to each his own." I don't believe I suggested anthing to the contrary. That concept is, in fact, exactly what I'm advocating. The "Teeth Gnashers" I'm referring to are the ones who--like you--have decided the "scene" isn't for them and is "impossible" to navigate and have taken it upon themselves to trumpet that their inability (or unwillingness) to successfully navigate the waters is somehow a divine indication that no one should try (or should even want to try) to experience such an "impossible" task. Those are the Teeth Gnashers I'm referring to... and they're certainly not of the "to each his own" variety. They're of the "my word is gospel" variety.

I guess I'm confused here. Is that how I came across in my original post?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JLeighs

I guess I'm confused here. Is that how I came across in my original post?

Not at all. That's what I was trying to say. You were "fessing up" to something I don't think you were really guilty of. So in essence... we were agreeing. I just don't see the point in people announcing that it's "impossible" to separate the wheat from the boundless chaff in self-pub-land, when what they really mean to say is; "it's not something I'm willing to do."

[JLeighs]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Not at all. That's what I was trying to say. You were "fessing up" to something I don't think you were really guilty of. So in essence... we were agreeing. I just don't see the point in people announcing that it's "impossible" to separate the wheat from the boundless chaff in self-pub-land, when what they really mean to say is; "it's not something I'm willing to do."

Oh okay. I see what you mean.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Yolina

Those are called braces in the UK too

In the UK braces are suspenders.

[barutanseijin]

I suspect that many encounters with bad writing occur when readers stray accross boundaries. Consider an 11th c. reader of the world's first novel, the Tale of Genji. Genji is full of courtly machinations and allusions to classical poetry because that is what mattered to Lady Murasaki and her readers. To an 11th c. Genji reader, a Dostoevsky novel with plebian characters and language would have been scandalous. And when writers like Joyce & Henry Miller took the bourgeois novel to its logical conclusions with toliet scenes, eating, drinking, and sex, this was an outrage. Ulysses was banned until 1934 in the US, longer elsewhere. Tropic of Cancer was an obscenity until 1964 (maybe still, depending on who you ask.).

Academic writing is generally pretty bad if you're not in academics yourself. In the humanities, writers feel compelled to make allusions to the classics and current authorities. It's positively Malinowski-esque! Social science academics are famous for using jargon to mark the boundaries of their disciplines. Science papers are spaghetti strands of greco-roman neologisms sprinkled with passive verbs. But if you are an academic, you know why people write like that -- and you probably do it, too.

As a former teacher (of writing among other things), i've probably read more "bad writing" than the average person. I'm more forgiving of things like spelling and grammar errors or mangled metaphors if the writer has something coherent to say. So many writers really have nothing to say. To me that is the one unpardonable sin.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

In the UK braces are suspenders.

The post you are quoting answers post #86
Asking about dental braces.

Now show me a kid with a mouthful of suspenders...

[orlok]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

In the UK braces are suspenders.

Not really true. Generally a man wears braces (holds his trousers up - not pants ) and a woman wears suspenders (holds her stockings up). And it's definitely braces on teeth.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

The post you are quoting answers post #86
Asking about dental braces.

Now show me a kid with a mouthful of suspenders...

I did double check with my wife and UK braces are US suspenders. So when did braces/suspenders become the braces that go in a mouth? Braces was used to mean suspenders long before dental braces.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by orlok

Not really true. Generally a man wears braces (holds his trousers up - not pants ) and a woman wears suspenders (holds her stockings up). And it's definitely braces on teeth.

Oh yes, really true. UK braces = US suspenders. You don't have to believe me because I am not from the UK. But you have to believe my wife because she is from the UK.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Oh yes, really true. UK braces = US suspenders. You don't have to believe me because I am not from the UK. But you have to believe my wife because she is from the UK.

This is correct. "Suspenders" in Britain are the things that hold ladies' stocking up.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I did double check with my wife and UK braces are US suspenders. So when did braces/suspenders become the braces that go in a mouth? Braces was used to mean suspenders long before dental braces.

In general, a brace is something that holds something else in place. People with polio might wear braces on their legs to help them walk. A door brace can be used as a security device to keep a door from being opened. There are back braces and neck braces. You might use a brace to reinforce a wall. And you might use braces to straighten teeth or hold up stockings.

[Yolina]

To try and avoid any further confusion

The question I was answerimg was: what are dental braces called in the UK.
As it happens, in the UK these are called dental braces too.

We were no longer talking about the fact that as far as clothing goes US suspenders = UK braces and UK suspenders = US garter belt

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Yolina

To try and avoid any further confusion

The question I was answering was: what are dental braces called in the UK.
As it happens, in the UK these are called dental braces too.

We were no longer talking about the fact that as far as clothing goes US suspenders = UK braces and UK suspenders = US garter belt

Dental braces are also known as train tracks.