4 ms·

Lyttle Lytton Contest

54 points by luu 2y ago

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Nzen 2y ago
tl;dr This points to the 2024 ranking of the Lyttle Lytton contest, noting that the judge separated llm generated from human written responses. The Lyttle Lytton contest imitates the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, but limits the entrants to 200 characters. The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is a challenge to write the worst first sentence for a novel. The judge felt the latter tended toward run on sentences that tried to pack in lots of context.
- PeterCorless 2y ago
  Thanks! I've been a fan of the Bullwer-Lytton contest since the 1980s. I did notice that some of the "one sentence" entries in the Little Lytton contest did, in fact, comprise two sentences separated by a dreaded period. Heaven forfend!
- smusamashah 2y ago
  Where can I find those by ChatGPT? It says they have been separated out but I haven't found a link to those.
curtisblaine 2y ago
Kinda loosely related: I've always wanted to create a site that shows the opening sentence of any book you can imagine, which would be useful for people who don't know what to read and want to get inspired. I'm quite sure it's entirely possible from a legal point of view (fair use), but I have no idea how to find the data.
- nine_k 2y ago
  See also: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_on_a_winter%27s_night_a_traveler https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_on_a_winter%27s_night_a_t...
- Suppafly 2y ago
  >Kinda loosely related: I've always wanted to create a site that shows the opening sentence of any book you can imagine Just do it. Get started building your own db using project gutenberg and google books.
PeterCorless 2y ago
I presume this is related to the Bullwer Lytton Contest? https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/
chuckadams 2y ago
My favorite: "Detective Joe found the body slumped against the alley wall like a deflated bouncy castle, its limp limbs a sad parody of childhood joy." This one I think is too clever to be awful: "She had a face like a chair, in all the best ways."
setgree 2y ago
My all time favorite: > Gerald began – but was interrupted by a piercing whistle which cost him ten percent of his hearing permanently, as it did everyone else in a ten-mile radius of the eruption, not that it mattered much because for them “permanently” meant the next ten minutes or so until buried by searing lava or suffocated by choking ash – to pee.
- Sniffnoy 2y ago
  I can't find that one under any of the years. Is that from the Bulwer-Lytton contest rather than the Lyttle Lytton contest? It sounds a bit long to be an entry in the latter.
  - PeterCorless 2y ago
    Definitely sounds like Bullwer-Lytton.
    - Daneel_ 2y ago
      It's the 2007 Bulwer-Lytton winner: https://web.archive.org/web/20071016063739/http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/english/2007.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20071016063739/http://www.sjsu.e...
  - setgree 2y ago
    My mistake, yes; I only now learned they are different contests.
Daneel_ 2y ago
"One day a month go there was a huge accident on the left side of town involving some people and some stuff." By far my favourite from this year - it just tickles me in the right way. The line "She had a face like a chair, in all the best ways." is also fantastic.
DerSaidin 2y ago
> He slammed the door in my face, loud and sharp, like an acoustic lemon. I think its not really about the sound, it is about the response you might make after a big hit of lemon flavor: puckering up, wincing, pulling your neck back - I can definitely imagine responding to a distasteful and loud sound in the same way.

54 points by luu 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Nzen 2y ago

tl;dr This points to the 2024 ranking of the Lyttle Lytton contest, noting that the judge separated llm generated from human written responses. The Lyttle Lytton contest imitates the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, but limits the entrants to 200 characters. The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is a challenge to write the worst first sentence for a novel. The judge felt the latter tended toward run on sentences that tried to pack in lots of context.

PeterCorless 2y ago
Thanks! I've been a fan of the Bullwer-Lytton contest since the 1980s. I did notice that some of the "one sentence" entries in the Little Lytton contest did, in fact, comprise two sentences separated by a dreaded period. Heaven forfend!
smusamashah 2y ago
Where can I find those by ChatGPT? It says they have been separated out but I haven't found a link to those.

curtisblaine 2y ago

Kinda loosely related: I've always wanted to create a site that shows the opening sentence of any book you can imagine, which would be useful for people who don't know what to read and want to get inspired. I'm quite sure it's entirely possible from a legal point of view (fair use), but I have no idea how to find the data.

nine_k 2y ago
See also: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_on_a_winter%27s_night_a_traveler https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_on_a_winter%27s_night_a_t...
Suppafly 2y ago
>Kinda loosely related: I've always wanted to create a site that shows the opening sentence of any book you can imagine Just do it. Get started building your own db using project gutenberg and google books.

PeterCorless 2y ago

I presume this is related to the Bullwer Lytton Contest? https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/

chuckadams 2y ago

My favorite: "Detective Joe found the body slumped against the alley wall like a deflated bouncy castle, its limp limbs a sad parody of childhood joy." This one I think is too clever to be awful: "She had a face like a chair, in all the best ways."

setgree 2y ago

My all time favorite: > Gerald began – but was interrupted by a piercing whistle which cost him ten percent of his hearing permanently, as it did everyone else in a ten-mile radius of the eruption, not that it mattered much because for them “permanently” meant the next ten minutes or so until buried by searing lava or suffocated by choking ash – to pee.

Sniffnoy 2y ago
I can't find that one under any of the years. Is that from the Bulwer-Lytton contest rather than the Lyttle Lytton contest? It sounds a bit long to be an entry in the latter.
- PeterCorless 2y ago
  Definitely sounds like Bullwer-Lytton.
  - Daneel_ 2y ago
    It's the 2007 Bulwer-Lytton winner: https://web.archive.org/web/20071016063739/http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/english/2007.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20071016063739/http://www.sjsu.e...
- setgree 2y ago
  My mistake, yes; I only now learned they are different contests.

Daneel_ 2y ago

"One day a month go there was a huge accident on the left side of town involving some people and some stuff." By far my favourite from this year - it just tickles me in the right way. The line "She had a face like a chair, in all the best ways." is also fantastic.

DerSaidin 2y ago

> He slammed the door in my face, loud and sharp, like an acoustic lemon. I think its not really about the sound, it is about the response you might make after a big hit of lemon flavor: puckering up, wincing, pulling your neck back - I can definitely imagine responding to a distasteful and loud sound in the same way.