4 ms·

Although I appreciate the article, what's the deal with calling depth thickness? Is it because it looks like the meme word 'thicc'? > If you allow for the exis

Although I appreciate the article, what's the deal with calling depth thickness? Is it because it looks like the meme word 'thicc'? > If you allow for the existence of secret treasures that can only be accessed with effort and analysis, then you empower the elitists and the snobs. “Buddy, don’t even talk to me until you’ve been in the cave!” I don't agree with this statement. Being a snob and/or elitist means looking down upon others. If you appreciate these 'secret treasures' without being a dick about it, everybody wins.

EEBio 1mo ago
I imagine the word thickness represents the great number of (metaphorical) layers of a painting, since paintings are the reoccurring symbol to talk about art in this essay.
CocaKoala 1mo ago
I think I like the term "thickness" over "depth" here because thickness implies a sort of solidity, an ability to stand up to being held and examined, turned over and and handled. Depth can feel unapproachable (the ocean is pretty deep and it is famously challenging to explore) while something which has thickness intuitively feels like you can walk right up to it and try to learn something. This doesn't hold for all things - I would, for example, describe a wine as having "depth" but probably not "thickness" because in the case of potables "thickness" also implies a particular sort of textural feel, but I do like the idea of a piece of art as being thick with meaning as opposed to deep. A book which is deep can be reread multiple times, but a book which has thickness just sounds like a book that can live on your bookshelf and be paged through year after year for decades, with not only the content to support it but also the sturdiness to hold up to the use.
- pluralmonad 1mo ago
  Also, depth does not necessarily mean substance. Holes in the ground have depth. I think thickness works well here.
antonyt 1mo ago
I don't think the author is claiming you HAVE to be a dick about it. But that the pursuit of "thickness" does in reality give ammunition to a lot of people who are inevitably dicks about it seems observably true to me.
mbauman 1mo ago
> what's the deal with calling depth thickness It's almost as though the author thought about and cared about the content and exact words he chose. "Thick or Treat" and "Thickening agents" and "Slim pickings" even immediately evoking imagery of a thin slop gruel in my own head. By using an unexpected word I think I thought more critically about it, in fact. Had the author used depth I would've immediately had more superficial imagery in my own head.
- joemi 1mo ago
  I think the fact that "thick" can mean "dim-witted" is proof that the author did not in fact choose their words carefully.
  - jonnybgood 1mo ago
    I think it's made obvious that "thick" can mean many different things. Personally, I've never heard "thick" to mean "dimwitted" or it ever used as such.
    - CocaKoala 1mo ago
      The full term is "thickheaded" but it can be abbreviated, as in "He's a bit thick, isn't he?"
joemi 1mo ago
"Thick" already has a meaning of "dimwitted" so it's a particularly strange choice of word in this context. Is this something this new use of "thick" as a synonym for "deep" something this author is trying to coin, or is this already an established meaning among younger generations?
- imp0cat 1mo ago
  As thick as the paint on the Lexus LS400. ;)
dredmorbius 1mo ago
Given the butt-emphasis, there's also a certain allusion to Sir Mix-a-Lot.
allturtles 1mo ago
> Although I appreciate the article, what's the deal with calling depth thickness? Possibly riffing on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thick_description https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thick_description?
beacon294 1mo ago
Although it can be annoying to step into someone else's situational language/definitions/grammar, it can be a good rhetorical trick to shed the preexisting cultural context of a preexisting term such as depth.

EEBio 1mo ago

I imagine the word thickness represents the great number of (metaphorical) layers of a painting, since paintings are the reoccurring symbol to talk about art in this essay.

CocaKoala 1mo ago

I think I like the term "thickness" over "depth" here because thickness implies a sort of solidity, an ability to stand up to being held and examined, turned over and and handled. Depth can feel unapproachable (the ocean is pretty deep and it is famously challenging to explore) while something which has thickness intuitively feels like you can walk right up to it and try to learn something. This doesn't hold for all things - I would, for example, describe a wine as having "depth" but probably not "thickness" because in the case of potables "thickness" also implies a particular sort of textural feel, but I do like the idea of a piece of art as being thick with meaning as opposed to deep. A book which is deep can be reread multiple times, but a book which has thickness just sounds like a book that can live on your bookshelf and be paged through year after year for decades, with not only the content to support it but also the sturdiness to hold up to the use.

pluralmonad 1mo ago
Also, depth does not necessarily mean substance. Holes in the ground have depth. I think thickness works well here.

antonyt 1mo ago

I don't think the author is claiming you HAVE to be a dick about it. But that the pursuit of "thickness" does in reality give ammunition to a lot of people who are inevitably dicks about it seems observably true to me.

mbauman 1mo ago

> what's the deal with calling depth thickness It's almost as though the author thought about and cared about the content and exact words he chose. "Thick or Treat" and "Thickening agents" and "Slim pickings" even immediately evoking imagery of a thin slop gruel in my own head. By using an unexpected word I think I thought more critically about it, in fact. Had the author used depth I would've immediately had more superficial imagery in my own head.

joemi 1mo ago
I think the fact that "thick" can mean "dim-witted" is proof that the author did not in fact choose their words carefully.
- jonnybgood 1mo ago
  I think it's made obvious that "thick" can mean many different things. Personally, I've never heard "thick" to mean "dimwitted" or it ever used as such.
  - CocaKoala 1mo ago
    The full term is "thickheaded" but it can be abbreviated, as in "He's a bit thick, isn't he?"

joemi 1mo ago

"Thick" already has a meaning of "dimwitted" so it's a particularly strange choice of word in this context. Is this something this new use of "thick" as a synonym for "deep" something this author is trying to coin, or is this already an established meaning among younger generations?

imp0cat 1mo ago
As thick as the paint on the Lexus LS400. ;)

dredmorbius 1mo ago

Given the butt-emphasis, there's also a certain allusion to Sir Mix-a-Lot.

allturtles 1mo ago

> Although I appreciate the article, what's the deal with calling depth thickness? Possibly riffing on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thick_description https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thick_description?

beacon294 1mo ago

Although it can be annoying to step into someone else's situational language/definitions/grammar, it can be a good rhetorical trick to shed the preexisting cultural context of a preexisting term such as depth.