28
[...] you don't get any sense of the infinity of choices that were made in the text until you start trying to reproduce them. [...]
his suggestion that students try to imitate a page of text word for word (from memory) to learn how to write like the author, so you can feel your muscles working to achieve the same effect
[...] you don't get any sense of the infinity of choices that were made in the text until you start trying to reproduce them. [...]
his suggestion that students try to imitate a page of text word for word (from memory) to learn how to write like the author, so you can feel your muscles working to achieve the same effect
pellucid
(en)
translucently clear
44
lapidary
(en)
relating to stone and gems and the work involved in engraving, cutting, or polishing
44
turgid
(en)
(adjective) being in a state of distension; swollen, tumid (opposite of flaccid) / (adjective) exhibiting turgor / (adjective) excessively embellished in style or language; bombastic, pompous
47
characterized by crummy, turgid, verbose, abstruse, abstract, solecism-ridden prose
notable
9 years ago
characterized by crummy, turgid, verbose, abstruse, abstract, solecism-ridden prose
notable
9 years ago
abstruse
(en)
difficult to understand; obscure
47
characterized by crummy, turgid, verbose, abstruse, abstract, solecism-ridden prose
notable
9 years ago
characterized by crummy, turgid, verbose, abstruse, abstract, solecism-ridden prose
notable
9 years ago
solecism
(en)
a grammatical mistake in speech or writing
47
characterized by crummy, turgid, verbose, abstruse, abstract, solecism-ridden prose
notable
9 years ago
characterized by crummy, turgid, verbose, abstruse, abstract, solecism-ridden prose
notable
9 years ago
schlemiel
(ji)
a stupid, awkward, or unlucky person
54
the person that's trying it is kind of a schlemiel
notable
9 years ago
the person that's trying it is kind of a schlemiel
notable
9 years ago
80
A good opener, first and foremost, fails to repel. Right? So it's interesting and engaging. It lays out the terms of the argument, and, in my opinion, should also in some way imply the stakes. Right? Not only am I right, but in any piece of writing there's a tertiary argument: why should you spend your time writing this? right? "so here's why the following issue might be important, useful, practical." I would think that if one did it deftly, one could in a one-paragraph opening grab the reader, state the terms of the argument, and state the motivation for the argument. I imagine most good argumentative stuff that I've read, you could boil that down to the opener.
A good opener, first and foremost, fails to repel. Right? So it's interesting and engaging. It lays out the terms of the argument, and, in my opinion, should also in some way imply the stakes. Right? Not only am I right, but in any piece of writing there's a tertiary argument: why should you spend your time writing this? right? "so here's why the following issue might be important, useful, practical." I would think that if one did it deftly, one could in a one-paragraph opening grab the reader, state the terms of the argument, and state the motivation for the argument. I imagine most good argumentative stuff that I've read, you could boil that down to the opener.
nominalization
(en)
the use of a word, which is not a noun, as a noun, or as the head of a noun phrase, with or without morphological transformation (e.g., the noun legalization from the verb legalize)
93
Buried verbs, which I was taught are called nominalizations, are turning a verb into a noun for kind of BS-y reasons.
notable
9 years ago
Buried verbs, which I was taught are called nominalizations, are turning a verb into a noun for kind of BS-y reasons.
notable
9 years ago
113
[...] In order for your sentences not to make the reader's eyes glaze over, you can't simply use the same core set of words, particularly important nouns and verbs, over and over again. You have to have synonyms at your fingertips and alternative constructions at your fingertips. And usually, though not in the sense of memorizing vocab words like we were kids, but having a larger vocabulary is usually the best way to do that. The best. having a good vocabulary ups the chances that we're going to be able to know the right word, even if that's the plainest word that will do and to achieve some kind of elegant variation, which I am kind of a fiend for.
[...] In order for your sentences not to make the reader's eyes glaze over, you can't simply use the same core set of words, particularly important nouns and verbs, over and over again. You have to have synonyms at your fingertips and alternative constructions at your fingertips. And usually, though not in the sense of memorizing vocab words like we were kids, but having a larger vocabulary is usually the best way to do that. The best. having a good vocabulary ups the chances that we're going to be able to know the right word, even if that's the plainest word that will do and to achieve some kind of elegant variation, which I am kind of a fiend for.
abjure
(en)
(verb) to renounce upon oath / (verb) to reject solemnly / (verb) to abstain from; avoid
115
I urge your watchers, your seminar attendees, to abjure this habit
notable
9 years ago
I urge your watchers, your seminar attendees, to abjure this habit
notable
9 years ago
sedulous
(en)
(adjective) involving or accomplished with careful perseverance / (adjective) diligent in application or pursuit
117
they cut out a lot of the sedulous stuff
on Harper's
uncertain
9 years ago
they cut out a lot of the sedulous stuff
on Harper's
uncertain
9 years ago
pace
(en)
(preposition) with due respect to (someone or their opinion), used to express polite disagreement or contradiction (e.g., "narrative history, pace some theorists, is by no means dead")
117
The version that's in the book, I think, is a heck of a lot better, pace the terrible capitalization
notable
9 years ago
The version that's in the book, I think, is a heck of a lot better, pace the terrible capitalization
notable
9 years ago