tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post115599264349218886..comments2024-03-28T11:45:43.133-05:00Comments on Althouse: Concreteness blindness.Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156065173694321862006-08-20T04:12:00.000-05:002006-08-20T04:12:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156048385055475902006-08-19T23:33:00.000-05:002006-08-19T23:33:00.000-05:00"Concreteness blindness" is related to what Orwell..."Concreteness blindness" is related to what Orwell call "the dead metaphor"...ie, a metaphor which is used without calling up any relevant mental image.David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156037554980293162006-08-19T20:32:00.000-05:002006-08-19T20:32:00.000-05:00I had in mind pictures like this one or this one.I...I had in mind pictures like <A HREF="http://www.nbc11.com/news/9695462/detail.html" REL="nofollow">this one</A> or <A HREF="http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27267806.shtml" REL="nofollow">this one</A>.<BR/><BR/>In a way, you almost have to feel sorry for the poor bastard. He deserves everything he gets, but still... Imagine living in that hell for all these years, day in and day out, waking up every morning trapped with yourself, never being able to escape the damning, unbearable fact that you haven't made a listenable record in <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002LD0/ref=m_art_li_12/103-2682625-8531830?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance" REL="nofollow">sixteen years</A>.Gordon Freecehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10779983208898166853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156025857134110722006-08-19T17:17:00.000-05:002006-08-19T17:17:00.000-05:00We report.You decide.We <A HREF="http://www.penduluminc.com/MM/images/byrne2e.jpg" REL="nofollow">report.</A><BR/><BR/>You <A HREF="http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20060817/i/r2019634468.jpg" REL="nofollow">decide.</A>Bissagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04439910009646381418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156025722357126912006-08-19T17:15:00.000-05:002006-08-19T17:15:00.000-05:00Looks a bit like David Byrne, doesn't he?thanks, n...<I>Looks a bit like David Byrne, doesn't he?</I><BR/><BR/>thanks, now all I'm going to think of when I see this freakshow is poor old David Byrne.knoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13231876226573540476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156019696070527872006-08-19T15:34:00.000-05:002006-08-19T15:34:00.000-05:00Looks a bit like David Byrne, doesn't he? That jaw...Looks a bit like David Byrne, doesn't he? That jawline over that neck. I make no inference, folks. I am a neutral observer. <BR/><BR/>Okay, I'll shut up now.Gordon Freecehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10779983208898166853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156019568667005982006-08-19T15:32:00.000-05:002006-08-19T15:32:00.000-05:00"In a shambles", eh? Is that a fact? Who put it th..."In a shambles", eh? Is that a fact? Who put it there? And why? And what were you doing there when you found it? Looking for a steak? <BR/><BR/>Someday, a real rain will come and wash all the bad writers off the streets.Gordon Freecehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10779983208898166853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156019410552893652006-08-19T15:30:00.000-05:002006-08-19T15:30:00.000-05:00The traffic isn't choked. The road is choked with ...The traffic isn't choked. The <EM>road </EM>is choked <EM>with</EM> traffic, or Bankok is choked with traffic, but the traffic itself is not choked. <BR/><BR/>He'll be jabbering about something being "in [sic] a shambles" next. <BR/><BR/>In Texas, there used to be a law that said it was okay to shoot somebody if he "needed killin'"[1]. Coincidentally, this article was not written in Texas. You may draw your own conclusions. <BR/><BR/><BR/>[1] This may be complete hogwash.Gordon Freecehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10779983208898166853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156004874767717292006-08-19T11:27:00.000-05:002006-08-19T11:27:00.000-05:00Ann said: "I thought you were saying maybe he mean...Ann said: "<I>I thought you were saying maybe he meant to do it.</I><BR/><BR/>I was, but not until the second paragraph.<BR/><BR/>GPE: Now <I>that's</I> funny! (I always laugh at animals-wearing-a-monocle jokes. Who doesn't?)<BR/><BR/>And speaking of novels, and maybe appropriate to Ann's point about the distastefulness of allusions to necks and choking, isn't it from Don Quixote we get the advice: "One ought not speak of halters in a hanged man's house"?Bissagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04439910009646381418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156004029793036212006-08-19T11:13:00.000-05:002006-08-19T11:13:00.000-05:00Many, many, many apologies. I was in error. Accord...Many, many, <B>many</B> apologies. I was in error. According to the Beatrix Potter Style Guide, Mr. Rubin is in accord with appropriate and meaningful sentence structure. <BR/><BR/>For example, if the speaker is a Sandhill Crane wearing a top hat and spats, it is proper to phrase as "Mr. Sandhill craned his neck looking for Mr. Slither to snake his way to their lunch appointment." If Mr. Sandhill is also wearing a monocle, than the correct phrasing would be "Mr. Sandhill craned his neck looking for Mr. Slither to snake his way <B>for</B> their lunch appointment."<BR/><BR/>My bad. But perhaps Mr. Rubin should put the novel he's working on back in the desk drawer while he is writing news articles.GPEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07658545249085860487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156002445116302062006-08-19T10:47:00.000-05:002006-08-19T10:47:00.000-05:00the apparently lonely, anonymous life he had cobbl...the apparently lonely, anonymous life he had cobbled together in this frenetic city.<BR/><BR/>"cobbled together" is pretty stupid-sounding, too. And inaccurate since it doesn't sound like he really making any effort to get a life. (As if he could)knoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13231876226573540476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156002302011383652006-08-19T10:45:00.000-05:002006-08-19T10:45:00.000-05:00Bissage: I certainly assumed it was unintentional,...Bissage: I certainly assumed it was unintentional, which is why I used the word "blindness." I thought you were saying maybe he meant to do it.<BR/><BR/>If he did it on purpose, he should be fired. If he did it by accident, he needs to learn to reread from a distanced perspective. And the LA Times needs better editing.Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156001036835533612006-08-19T10:23:00.000-05:002006-08-19T10:23:00.000-05:00I think the technical term for this type of word c...I think the technical term for this type of word crafting is "bad writing."GPEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07658545249085860487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1156000477232264432006-08-19T10:14:00.000-05:002006-08-19T10:14:00.000-05:00Writing is much like cooking: you cannot really te...Writing is much like cooking: you cannot really tell if the consumer of your words (your recipes) will read them (taste them) in the way that you the author (cook) are savoring them. And, from our side, we cannot tell (as your commenter here said) what prompted the word choice. I think I'll stay with the idea that it was deliberate. The images are meant to repulse and condemn without actually openly doing so.ninahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01222848486174278888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1155998847299750142006-08-19T09:47:00.000-05:002006-08-19T09:47:00.000-05:00Ann: Thanks for the face-saving out, but I really ...Ann: Thanks for the face-saving out, but I really did mean to type "unintentional."<BR/><BR/>I screwed up by redefining the term "concrete blindness" to refer to the allusions in Mr. Rosen's article when you had already defined the term to refer to Mr. Rosen's perceptiveness.<BR/><BR/>I wish I had typed: <I>I can only guess at this particular writer's intent. Maybe his disturbing allusions were unintentional.</I>Bissagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04439910009646381418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1155996940631436242006-08-19T09:15:00.000-05:002006-08-19T09:15:00.000-05:00bissage: You mean intentional, I assume.bissage: You mean intentional, I assume.Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1155996289214862982006-08-19T09:04:00.000-05:002006-08-19T09:04:00.000-05:00I can only guess at this particular writer's inten...I can only guess at this particular writer's intent. Maybe this "concrete blindness" was completely unintentional.<BR/><BR/>But often I surmise that this sort of thing (when I notice it) is a mischievious inside joke like playing "asshole bingo" or one of its many variations. Other examples are drawing genitals into Disney cartoons or making up silly headlines hoping that James Taranto puts them in his Best of the Web.<BR/><BR/>Not everyone takes his or her job seriously.Bissagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04439910009646381418noreply@blogger.com