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  • The Elegant Variation is "Fowler’s (1926, 1965) term for the inept writer’s overstrained efforts at freshness or vividness of expression. Prose guilty of elegant variation calls attention to itself and doesn’t permit its ideas to seem naturally clear. It typically seeks fancy new words for familiar things, and it scrambles for synonyms in order to avoid at all costs repeating a word, even though repetition might be the natural, normal thing to do: The audience had a certain bovine placidity, instead of The audience was as placid as cows. Elegant variation is often the rock, and a stereotype, a cliché, or a tired metaphor the hard place between which inexperienced or foolish writers come to grief. The familiar middle ground in treating these homely topics is almost always the safest. In untrained or unrestrained hands, a thesaurus can be dangerous."
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« BULWER LYTTON, MOVE OVER | Main | DOESN'T READERS DIGEST ALREADY READ LIKE A FORTUNE COOKIE? »

November 10, 2004

IS THAT REALLY WHAT WE SOUND LIKE?

Our NPR interview is now available online, where we're sandwiched between Jessa Crispin and Sam Tanenhaus - don't even go there.  The mind reels at the possibility.  We'd have appreciated a page link as well, but pathetic, attention-hungry beggars can't be choosers.

Hey, who's calling us "stupid"?

Posted by TEV at 11:38 AM |

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» The Monday Morning Books-Blogging Post from Notes from the (Legal) Underground
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Tracked on November 15, 2004 at 04:16 AM

Comments

I think you did well. lets let Jessa sell 6 books while you influence the shape of the NY Times.

Posted by: paul terwelp | November 10, 2004 at 11:52 AM

Oddly enough, you DON'T sound like that ;)

Posted by: SKL | November 10, 2004 at 12:44 PM

I won't be able to comment on the veracity expressed above until tonight, but NOBODY sounds the same on radio.

Posted by: Ed | November 10, 2004 at 01:48 PM

I thought you sounded dead sexy.

Posted by: Tod Goldberg | November 10, 2004 at 02:07 PM

Who was that articulate guy, anyway? Not a mere blogger! And Tanehaus even sounded relatively respectful--which, given how some of us have lambasted him, is actually rather satisfying.

Posted by: Dan Green | November 10, 2004 at 02:16 PM

Well done, Mark! You sounded very smart!

Posted by: Kathryn Koromilas | November 10, 2004 at 02:18 PM

I heard you on NPR today and was delighted to find out about your blog. I'm trying to get my book group to read something besides the twenty books all the other book groups are reading...
Best,
Barbara Cherne

Posted by: Barbara Cherne | November 10, 2004 at 03:29 PM

Just adding my voice to the chorus here--you sounded smart and warm and knowledgable--an ideal representative of our little corner of the blogosphere!

Posted by: ogic | November 10, 2004 at 03:31 PM

Mega-TEVs, Mark. I see some audioblogging in your future.

Posted by: Jeff | November 10, 2004 at 05:01 PM

You sounded great. You didn't "up-talk" once.

Posted by: George | November 10, 2004 at 06:26 PM

A fine job today Mark.

Enjoy,

Posted by: Dan Wickett | November 10, 2004 at 07:05 PM

Ah, fame . . . You sounded good, Mark. Congrats.

Posted by: Karen | November 10, 2004 at 07:15 PM

Fortune has favoured the brave.
Congrats!

Posted by: genevieve | November 10, 2004 at 07:25 PM

Yay Mark!! You give *very* good interview.

Posted by: Sarah | November 11, 2004 at 06:50 AM

The above are all true. I coach people to do radio interviews as part of my job, and you did very, very well. Of course, it's obvious that what Day to Day are really setting up here is the TEV Vs. Tanenhaus cage match.

Posted by: gwenda | November 11, 2004 at 09:34 AM

My panties were soaking wet, natch.

Posted by: Jimmy Beck | November 11, 2004 at 12:32 PM

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