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I wonder if that title was chosen ironically, or if the author simply has no clue? Put another way, what's up with that title?!
by emacsgifs 9y ago
I wonder if that title was chosen ironically, or if the author simply has no clue?
Put another way, what's up with that title?!
- papa-whisky 9y agoThe title refers to one of Fowler's quotes in the article: >Turgid flabby English is full of abstract nouns; the commonest ending of abstract nouns is –tion, and to count the –ion words in what one has written, or, better, to cultivate an ear that without special orders challenges them as they come, is one of the simplest and most effective means of making oneself less unreadable.
- AnimalMuppet 9y agoMany of the quotes in the article are doing exactly what they're giving advice about not doing, so that in reading it, you can see exactly what happens if you ignore the advice. The title is doing the same.
- quickthrower2 9y agoAh that's why reading the advice felt like walking through sludge.
- emacsgifs 9y agoAbsolutely, I wasn't sure if the entire article was intended as a complicated joke / cautionary example. An interesting way to communicate the message, but I'm sure it was largely unintentional.