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I now lack the juice to fuel the bluster to conceal that I am a simpleton

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Re: I now lack the juice to fuel the bluster to conceal that I am a simpleton

#121

Post by gadders »

Jun8 wrote: post #2

This is a fantastic interview with Padgett Powell ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padgett_Powell ), a writer of the Southern tradition. IMO, the two things that make it great ar how candid and fluid Powell's answers are and the hilariously Newspeak of the interviewer's questions. Powell was Don Barthelme's student, his analysis of Barthelme's main thrust here is worth the read alone. If you want to dig deeper on this…

I think they're both trying to show how smart they are - the interviewer in a big-brain intellectual fashion, and the author in an arch way to show what a rebel he is.

Re: I now lack the juice to fuel the bluster to conceal that I am a simpleton

#122

Post by eszed »

> I learned to write the English I have written by taking three years of Latin, in the putatively desolate educational backwater of Jacksonville, Florida, ending in the tenth grade translating The Aeneid. I was in homeroom sitting with Allen Collins of Lynyrd Skynyrd. We was gettin’ it. We did not know we was gettin’ it.

This is great.

Re: I now lack the juice to fuel the bluster to conceal that I am a simpleton

#123

Post by Amezarak »

basil-rash wrote: post #50
Ar-Curunir wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Er why would that be the case. To be unmoored is to be detached from something. So the quote is saying that the destiny of every book is to be detached and read outside the context in which it was written (birthed).

To be berthed is to be attached to your home, as a boat. It makes way more sense to keep the nautical analogy going than to switch it over to biology. This was likely a transcription error and/or pun.

It's just a mixed metaphor. They are very common in bad writing, which isn't to say they themselves are always bad. The surrounding words make it clear it's not a typo. "which _____ them" does not make sense and would be very rare usage for "berthed".

We are born into a time and moored to it. Books are not. Books are distinct from people in this way. That's the point.

Since part of the interview is making fun of the way the questions are worded, it also fits in that respect.

Re: I now lack the juice to fuel the bluster to conceal that I am a simpleton

#124

Post by Cthulhu_ »

Dudhbbh3343 wrote: post #86
boplicity wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may be bizarre for you, but it is often a reasoned and thoughtful use of the word, meaningful in the context of a complex and consistent consideration of the general meaning and usage of words. I encourage you to consider and understand the perspectives of those who do capitalize the word. This serves as an introduction to some people's thinking: https://www.cjr.org/analysis/capital-b-black-styleguide.php Note, th…

You and your link make reasonable arguments for capitalizing black, but I don't see any justification (other than to be contrary to supremacist groups) for not doing the same for white, which leaves it inconsistent with the naming of all other racial/ethnic groups.

It's a complicated matter and I'm not the right person to make any statements about it, but on the one side, we have white sub-groups like Irish or Italian. On the other, grouping all Black sub-groups under one moniker seems overly abstract as well. That said, it works for the debate of racism etc in the US, which affects people of color, not so much the various white groups.

Re: I now lack the juice to fuel the bluster to conceal that I am a simpleton

#125

Post by Cthulhu_ »

rpmisms wrote: post #104
boplicity wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may be bizarre for you, but it is often a reasoned and thoughtful use of the word, meaningful in the context of a complex and consistent consideration of the general meaning and usage of words. I encourage you to consider and understand the perspectives of those who do capitalize the word. This serves as an introduction to some people's thinking: https://www.cjr.org/analysis/capital-b-black-styleguide.php Note, th…

Capitalizing one and not the others is racist. There is no monolithic white, black, or brown experience, and to pretend otherwise is racist. It's a stupid microaggression

"You're the real racists" is a fallacy; it's ultimately not about appearance but oppression.

Re: I now lack the juice to fuel the bluster to conceal that I am a simpleton

#126

Post by Cthulhu_ »

otteromkram wrote: post #67
tony_cannistra wrote: post #44

Very interesting interview, but aside from that – what a true joy to read an article with so many words I'd never even seen before!

verisimilitudinously!

I'm finally going to beat someone at scrabble!

Re: I now lack the juice to fuel the bluster to conceal that I am a simpleton

#127

Post by Cthulhu_ »

airstrike wrote: post #21
ducttapecrown wrote: post #9

A group of people just asked me what verisimilitude was, now I'm excited to come back and tell them about verisimilitudinously.

Next up is probably vicissitudes, then

Voila! In view humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the “vox populi” now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin, van guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it’s my very good honour to meet you and you may call me V.

Re: I now lack the juice to fuel the bluster to conceal that I am a simpleton

#128

Post by Cthulhu_ »

hannofcart wrote: post #89
ducttapecrown wrote: post #9

A group of people just asked me what verisimilitude was, now I'm excited to come back and tell them about verisimilitudinously.

Last time I learnt that many new words was from the monologue in 'V for Vendetta'.

Vichyssoise! Sounds like a French sauce.

Re: I now lack the juice to fuel the bluster to conceal that I am a simpleton

#129

Post by Cthulhu_ »

AlotOfReading wrote: post #28
riehwvfbk wrote: post #13

This is amazing. I wonder, is one allowed to speak like this in the Bay Area, or would this mark you as a deplorable to the kind of people who erase racism by erasing race.

Yes, you can speak like this. People are just going to think you're pretentious. This is the sort of language you use with specific audiences. The interviewer and the interviewee are simply using language for mutually exclusive audiences.

It's a domain-specific language, but it's about prose instead of e.g. legal, medicine, or IT tech.

Re: I now lack the juice to fuel the bluster to conceal that I am a simpleton

#130

Post by dash2 »

This I did not expect:

> I learned to write the English I have written by taking three years of Latin, in the putatively desolate educational backwater of Jacksonville, Florida, ending in the tenth grade translating The Aeneid. I was in homeroom sitting with Allen Collins of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

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