tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post3143480357058705558..comments2024-03-10T23:01:51.493-05:00Comments on Stupid Motivational Tricks / Bemsha Swing: More AdverbsJonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-41254488187133973012013-02-22T18:17:44.266-06:002013-02-22T18:17:44.266-06:00Wow. I can see the use of an evidence-based guide ...Wow. I can see the use of an evidence-based guide (like the M-W Dictionary of English Usage), and depending on the environment, a narrow "house style"-type prescriptive guide (Chicago is like this, I think), but S&W is neither.Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-54095056033491418082013-02-22T17:25:10.347-06:002013-02-22T17:25:10.347-06:00"Are S&W an active influence on academic ..."Are S&W an active influence on academic writing (as opposed to the general public)?"<br /><br />- I was practically bullied into using it in graduate school. When my advisor learned I didn't own a copy, she was shocked.Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-76145188507767236012013-02-22T15:06:08.791-06:002013-02-22T15:06:08.791-06:00Yes, that's exactly right. It is "conven...Yes, that's exactly right. It is "conventional wisdom." Or Flaubert's idées reçues. In the same category as college professors don't teach enough / work hard enough. Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-23352695382520403462013-02-22T14:37:49.086-06:002013-02-22T14:37:49.086-06:00Perhaps there's an analogue in the appeal of c...Perhaps there's an analogue in the appeal of conservative rhetoric decrying "big government" -- it doesn't matter that the left doesn't actually seek bigness per se, nor that the right doesn't actually pursue smallness. Similarly, "too many adverbs" gives you something to say, the feeling that some error is being denounced, even if the text under censure is no Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-31947592141697704212013-02-22T13:40:00.205-06:002013-02-22T13:40:00.205-06:00There's a kind of middle-brow, quasi-academic ...There's a kind of middle-brow, quasi-academic cult for S&W. It is still a best seller, as those books go. Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-53569319834370741352013-02-22T13:04:46.404-06:002013-02-22T13:04:46.404-06:00Are S&W an active influence on academic writin...Are S&W an active influence on academic writing (as opposed to the general public)? Or is academic style primarily maintained by the profession?Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-69050022193805646932013-02-22T10:57:27.749-06:002013-02-22T10:57:27.749-06:00Yes. It is the same! Not the same style, of course...Yes. It is the same! Not the same style, of course, but the same need for all the parts of speech. I'll use my writing as an example. I think I need all the adjectives and adverbs I use here, like sterile, academic, raw, finely tuned, highly receptive, critical, contemporary, pedagogical, expanded. Show me an single academic writer who doesn't depend on adjectives. Say, a paragraph of sixJonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-76139179422372443662013-02-22T10:42:18.905-06:002013-02-22T10:42:18.905-06:00This is not academic writing, though. Do you think...This is not academic writing, though. Do you think it should be the same for academic writing and fiction?Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.com