I’ve been a member of the Agora for about 18 months now. In that time, I’ve been entertained by some of the best and worst discussions of WORDS. However, I must say that I’m becoming increasingly tired of being LECTURED AT by self-appointed experts in language.
Let’s please keep this forum friendly and light. Not many of us need mini-lectures in Linguistics 101. I certainly don’t.
To those who simply can’t resist the opportunity to regurgitate their latest college textbook, please understand that some of us are rather old farts who don’t care much about that stuff any more.
Does claptrap cause courap? (Practice safe posting!)
I nominate PW to be the Anti-Claptrap Satrap, with Full Authority to affrap anyone posting crap… :D
The question which, I am certain, is now springing immediately to all minds is: should the ACS be a term position, up for grabs whenever PW steps down to become ACS Emeritus? Or should the ACS function on the monarchial model, with a designated heir?
I enjoy reading consensual discussions on the nuances of language, even as I marvel when someone gets their panties in a twist over minutia. However, I respect those arguments much more when they don’t sound as though they’ve been plagiarized in their entirety from some particularly dry and uncredited source, and wielded to bludgeon everyone else into submission.
Well, PW! If you are talking about me, then you know what you can do with it. I certainly don’t have to entertain you for my own entertainment. I’ll say what I darn well like, and if no one is interested then no one will answer!
But if you are talking about some people here who can’t keep their pedantic and pretentious little feet out of their mouths, and don’t know when they have lost, all the while refusing to learn anything as if being bettered isn’t an education in itself, then I am with you!
Is there something about this medium that encourages claptrap, or is it just me? Why do I find it difficult to comprehend that smilies have become essential semantic tools? ::)
Isn’t the purpose of language communication?
Discussing the minutiae of grammatical terms and usage, while entertaining is not a matter of life or death ... or is it? ;D
I find it pathetic when people have to prove their brilliance, rather than let it shine naturally; to be smart alecky, instead of just smart.
It’s one thing to use knowledge as a tool, quite another as a weapon.
Quips and wit are one thing; cockiness and over-confidence another.
To be blessed with intelligence is wonderful, but also carries with it a responsibility. Our intelligence can either make us greater or destroy us depending upon how it is deployed.
This reminds me of the axiom:
As children, we think our parents know everything.
As teenagers, we think our parents know nothing.
In our twenties, we think our parents may have known something at sometime.
In our thirties, we think our parents know something.
In our forties, we think our parents know a lot and consult them frequently.
In our fifties and beyond, we wish we knew as much as our parents had at our age and that we could ask them their advice.
Unfortunately, we can’t put old heads on young shoulders.
Being the curious type, I wondered how many other hits I would get on a Google search of "didactic claptrap". I thought there would be some interesting sites…
To my amazement, Google found that particular word combination on only one other site, a book review, of all things!
Talking about old (re Palewriter’s original posting) . . .
My son said to me, "Dad, you’re so old you fart dust!"
Regards, Members!
P.S. I can’t say that I enjoy this thread, because it did get a trifle intense, and what would that say about me to get such a kick out of it? But it certainly aroused my interest.
Pretentious, insincere, or empty language: "I hate ... that air/Of claptrap, which your recent poets prize" (Byron).
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[Obsolete claptrap, a theatrical trick to win applause : clap1 + trap1.]
I find it pathetic when people have to prove their brilliance, rather than let it shine naturally; to be smart alecky, instead of just smart.
It’s one thing to use knowledge as a tool, quite another as a weapon.
Quips and wit are one thing; cockiness and over-confidence another.
Well said RK.
PW, I understand your point, and agree with Gail’s nomination. But don’t be too upset. Just as you see through pretense, so do others. If I am personally offended, I speak up. If the condescension is general, I move quickly on to a more enjoyable posting.
I am sure that he loves the whole double entendre of sarcasm and the irony thing as well as the next poster!
PW has very little tolerance for people who waste his time (and the Agora’s time) with made-up excuses based on pretense and formality, when what we all really want to know it what you think (and how you say it)!
I’ve found another website that uses this phrase (albeit infixed). It’s a review of the film Joshua, and describes the American ‘religious’ genre, which doesn’t tend to make it over here.
The screen is littered with sanctimonious casualties each time a new "wave of spirituality" in cinema crashes in every few years, leaving us with woefully didactic, apocalyptic claptrap with titles like "Left Behind," "Judgment" ... and (gulp) "Megiddo: Omega Code 2."
Didn’t Anders suggest that a claptrap was something other than the usual definition? How then would it be didactic, let alone apocalyptic?
I am so sorry that my postings have become so erratic. I can only blame the exigencies of the vital work I do: putting junk mail in everybody’s mailbox.
As to being the "Anti-Claptrap Satrap", I could only accept this role if it comes with a medal and some kind of uniform. I’m thinking something in blue and yellow.
Sitran, if I EVER gave the impression that I was referring to you in my original diatribe, then you’re nuts. Nothing could be further from my intention.
I should take this opportunity to thank….oh, bollocks.
PW: do not accept some sorry worn-outcoveralls! The Anti-Claptrap Satrap rank should convey dignity, not, ah, rank. You are on your own for the medal but perhaps I can work up a phetching safire (unless you would prefer azure) and yellow phez, complete with feasant pheathers. It will help you stay "light and phrothy" in your posts.
gailr
