Can't read it wrong

[walrii]

Rant: It's duct tape, not duck tape! The stuff was originally used to seal the seams in metal air conditioning ducts. Still is, actually. People got sloppy with the pronunciation then a company marketed a "duck tape" as a play on words with a cute duck for a logo. Now three-quarters of the known universe thinks the tape was originally used to seal leaks in ducks so they wouldn't sink. As if one could sink a duck. In my youth, "like trying to drown a duck" meant attempting an utterly impossible task. Rant over.

[benhall.1]

Rant: It's duct tape, not duck tape! The stuff was originally used to seal the seams in metal air conditioning ducts. Still is, actually. People got sloppy with the pronunciation then a company marketed a "duck tape" as a play on words with a cute duck for a logo. Now three-quarters of the known universe thinks the tape was originally used to seal leaks in ducks so they wouldn't sink. As if one could sink a duck. In my youth, "like trying to drown a duck" meant attempting an utterly impossible task. Rant over.

Well played.

Wordy. But good.

[highwood]

Rant: It's duct tape, not duck tape! The stuff was originally used to seal the seams in metal air conditioning ducts. Still is, actually. People got sloppy with the pronunciation then a company marketed a "duck tape" as a play on words with a cute duck for a logo. Now three-quarters of the known universe thinks the tape was originally used to seal leaks in ducks so they wouldn't sink. As if one could sink a duck. In my youth, "like trying to drown a duck" meant attempting an utterly impossible task. Rant over.

Except that it seems that you should not use duct tape to seal duct seams!

http://www2.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Ar ... -HVAC.html

[benhall.1]

Rant: It's duct tape, not duck tape! The stuff was originally used to seal the seams in metal air conditioning ducts. Still is, actually. People got sloppy with the pronunciation then a company marketed a "duck tape" as a play on words with a cute duck for a logo. Now three-quarters of the known universe thinks the tape was originally used to seal leaks in ducks so they wouldn't sink. As if one could sink a duck. In my youth, "like trying to drown a duck" meant attempting an utterly impossible task. Rant over.

Except that it seems that you should not use duct tape to seal duct seams!

http://www2.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Ar ... -HVAC.html

Two things about that article, from a cursory reading:

1) They don't know what duct tape is, so I'm not impressed with their testing. For instance, they think it's the same as gaffer tape (which they call "gaffer's tape"). It isn't.

2) I think they've missed the point in any case. Duct tape is not designed to be a permanent fix. It's designed to be easy to use and quick, and the test seemed to back that up, as well as to support the general view that it makes a good short term, temporary solution.

[Nanohedron]

Aperol. Sounds like a hair product made from chimpanzee fat. And I still don't know what a sprtiz is. Sounds vaguely Croatian, though. Maybe it's a pastry.

As happens sometimes, I can't tell how serious you are.

I was serious about the first part: "Aperol" is a very unappealing name. It doesn't fit what is supposed to be a worldly pleasure. It also sounds clinical, like something you'd hear in the Emergency Ward. *shudder*

I was totally tongue-in-cheek with the second part. I knew that of course the word was supposed to be "spritz".

But at what point is mockery serious or not serious? I'm kinda doing both at once, here.

Hope that helps.

[benhall.1]

Aperol. Sounds like a hair product made from chimpanzee fat. And I still don't know what a sprtiz is. Sounds vaguely Croatian, though. Maybe it's a pastry.

As happens sometimes, I can't tell how serious you are.

I was serious about the first part: "Aperol" is a very unappealing name. It doesn't fit what is supposed to be a worldly pleasure. It also sounds clinical, like something you'd hear in the Emergency Ward. *shudder*

I was totally tongue-in-cheek with the second part. I knew that of course the word was supposed to be "spritz".

But at what point is mockery serious or not serious? I'm kinda doing both at once, here.

Hope that helps.

Oh yeah. That helps no end.

[Nanohedron]

In the Poststructural Pub, I generally err towards "not serious at all" when assessing intent. Especially with Nano.

Guilty as charged. I suppose it makes me less credible when I'm actually being serious in the Pub, but pubs being dens of merriment, fortunately that doesn't happen too often. Here's a rule of thumb: If it's kind of dull, I'm probably in dead earnest.

But if the reader finds everything I write to be dull, then we're at an impasse. My advice is to loosen up with an Aperol sprtiz.

[walrii]

HEAR, HEAR! Well said, well said.

Too wordy.

Rant: It's duct tape, not duck tape! The stuff was originally used to seal the seams in metal air conditioning ducts. Still is, actually. People got sloppy with the pronunciation then a company marketed a "duck tape" as a play on words with a cute duck for a logo. Now three-quarters of the known universe thinks the tape was originally used to seal leaks in ducks so they wouldn't sink. As if one could sink a duck. In my youth, "like trying to drown a duck" meant attempting an utterly impossible task. Rant over.

Well played.

Wordy. But good.

Odd coincidence here. My day job is teaching flight simulators for the NATO pilot training program at Sheppard AFB. There is a line on every grade sheet for "Communication," where we rate the student's radio procedures. By far the most common comment I put in that line is "Wordy." I see two possibilities here: either my students have paid off Ben and kkrell to poke me in this fashion OR I'm actually a wordy person and my students haven't had the guts to slam me on the end-of-course critiques. Looking into the future, I think I see:

Wordy.

Option 2. Wordy.

[kkrell]

Odd coincidence here. My day job is teaching flight simulators for the NATO pilot training program at Sheppard AFB. There is a line on every grade sheet for "Communication," where we rate the student's radio procedures. By far the most common comment I put in that line is "Wordy." I see two possibilities here: either my students have paid off Ben and kkrell to poke me in this fashion OR I'm actually a wordy person and my students haven't had the guts to slam me on the end-of-course critiques. Looking into the future, I think I see:

Wordy.

Option 2. Wordy.

tl;dr

[benhall.1]

tl;dr

Ha! Bet you did!

[walrii]

tl;dr

Ok, I'm still scratching my head over what I assume are manuscript remarks. I think "tl" might mean "too long" but have no clue what "dr" stands for. Or I could be completely lost!

[Nanohedron]

tl;dr

Ok, I'm still scratching my head over what I assume are manuscript remarks. I think "tl" might mean "too long" but have no clue what "dr" stands for. Or I could be completely lost!

TLDR = Too Long; Didn't Read.

Usually I've seen the acronym without the semicolon.

[walrii]

Nano at his serious best. Thanks!

[benhall.1]

tl;dr

Ok, I'm still scratching my head over what I assume are manuscript remarks. I think "tl" might mean "too long" but have no clue what "dr" stands for. Or I could be completely lost!

TLDR = Too Long; Didn't Read.

Usually I've seen the acronym without the semicolon.

It's common with the semicolon too. To me it makes more sense with the semicolon.

[kkrell]

Here is another example of the BBC's wonderful writing skill (italics mine):

Police in India say they have arrested a 60-year-old man who fatally shot his wife for serving his dinner late.

Ashok Kumar came home drunk on Saturday night and got into an argument with his wife, Rupesh Singh, a senior police officer in Ghaziabad city near the capital Delhi, told the BBC.

Sunaina, 55, was taken to hospital with a gunshot wound to her head, but by then she had died, reports said.

Mr Kumar has confessed to his crime and now regrets his actions, Mr Singh said.

Wait - is Singh the policeman, not the wife?

Mr. Kumar - don't expect dinner on time tomorrow, either.