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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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« COMPARE AND CONTRAST: An Occasional Series | Main | WEHO RECAP »

September 28, 2007

TRANSLATING SCORSESE

What he said:  ""I'm looking forward to delving deeper."

What he meant:  "Harrison ... he was the fucking Krishna one, right?  Or was that Ringo?  I wonder if Damon's free."

(Via Ed.)

Posted by TEV at 01:50 PM in Hors catégorie |

Comments

Do I have to spell it out? C-h-e-e-s-e-a-n-d-O-n-i-o-n-s, oh no....

Posted by: Steven Augustine | September 28, 2007 at 05:20 PM

Snarky!

If you don't like his docs, aren't you relieved he choose Harrison instead of Lennon or McCartney? Be honest, now...

Posted by: Kit Stolz | September 29, 2007 at 09:29 AM

I'm fairly certain Martin Scorsese doesn't need me to take up for him but gee whiz! I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that he's not a cretin.

Posted by: Jack Pendarvis | September 29, 2007 at 11:12 AM

Cretin or not (he's Italian, remember, not Greek), I know for a fact that he shoplifts chapstick; he discreetly *returns* it (Catholic guilt) after daintily partaking.

Posted by: Steven Augustine | September 30, 2007 at 04:27 AM

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