tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post7275330002011105110..comments2024-03-10T23:01:51.493-05:00Comments on Stupid Motivational Tricks / Bemsha Swing: If Writing Were Speech, We'd All Be InarticulateJonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-66863913615131495532011-05-22T09:00:18.642-05:002011-05-22T09:00:18.642-05:00Obama has the habit of saying things like "th...Obama has the habit of saying things like "this is very important to Michelle and I." <br /><br />(Huddleston and Pullum have a wonderful discussion of that point -- without reference to Obama, of course -- in both the student grammar book and in the big monster CGEL.)Andrew Shieldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02804655739574694901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-10969304037582334082011-05-22T08:54:39.467-05:002011-05-22T08:54:39.467-05:00I know. I hated Bush, God knows, but I am prone t...I know. I hated Bush, God knows, but I am prone to speech error myself and I thought the moral superiority over the issue of language, with Bush, was just stupid. <br /><br />And yes, I'm sure Kerouac revised. After all, Visions of Cody and On the Road contain much of the same material. Whole pages are the same with the names changed.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-24123424994993765152011-05-22T01:49:40.500-05:002011-05-22T01:49:40.500-05:00Didn't Kerouac do a lot more revising than he ...Didn't Kerouac do a lot more revising than he claimed?<br /><br />*<br /><br />"forgiving the disfluency of spontaneous speech": this reminds me of Pullum's defense of GW Bush against the proliferation of "Bushisms". Pullum quoted a bit of spontaneous presidential speech (in response to a question at an event), commented on its disfluency, and then pointed out that he Andrew Shieldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02804655739574694901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-79455090605292763452011-05-20T11:44:36.632-05:002011-05-20T11:44:36.632-05:00"I have but nine-pence in ready money, but I ..."I have but nine-pence in ready money, but I can draw for a thousand pounds." (Addison, but <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=vsZEAAAAYAAJ&dq=boswell's%20life%20of%20johnson&pg=RA1-PA256#v=onepage&q=draw%20for%20a%20thousand%20pounds&f=false" rel="nofollow">Johnson</a> capped it.)Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.com