Hollow Words
This is a strange, almost Fowler-esque rant in context to what I am ranting about, and thus carries over into a T.V.V. style rant as well.
Since I took Speech in my freshman year of high school, the word/term "what-not" has bothered me to no end. It seems to be a word which people use when they want to sound intelligent, but have no further proof or evidence to back their current argument or position. I would wager it is the more modern version of et cetera as I have always heard et cetera used to either add gravity to the point one is trying to make by making it seem as if there are endless other examples they could provide, but don't really need to, or it is used in the same way that what-not is. As a relevant example, Smelly Guy (aka Stinky Kid from RTV 3200) decided to add his $.02 into the discussion in film class today about whether or not Quentin Tarantino is a racist due to Tarantino's extensive use of the word "nigger" in various films, more specifically True Romance which he wrote. His statement to say Tarantino is not a racist was, "He made films like Jackie Brown....and what-not." The mere use of this term invalidated everything he said which could have had any meaning as it took my focus away from his statements and moved it to the fact that he should have kept his mouth shut unless he could better express his thoughts in a complete manner. Too many people want to hear the sound of their own voice in public, though fail to consider whether anything valuable is going to spring forth from the anus which resides on their faces.
Also, I get tired in the same way of people qualifying what they say by over using the word "but." Most of the time, you can tell from their pattern of speech that a but is coming soon and it shifts my thought process from listening to consciously getting ready to strike what they just said and then figuring out if what they are about to say is worth listening to at all. Qualifiers take away from the gravity of what one is trying to say in that what comes before and after the but conflict or one overshadows the other.
I'm also reading Herman Hesse's Siddhartha right now as well as re-reading Clavell's Shogun for the 3rd time.
Now that the stress of the semester is dissipating, I think I'll post more often and let the words flow....
Elation through elevation,
Evan
Since I took Speech in my freshman year of high school, the word/term "what-not" has bothered me to no end. It seems to be a word which people use when they want to sound intelligent, but have no further proof or evidence to back their current argument or position. I would wager it is the more modern version of et cetera as I have always heard et cetera used to either add gravity to the point one is trying to make by making it seem as if there are endless other examples they could provide, but don't really need to, or it is used in the same way that what-not is. As a relevant example, Smelly Guy (aka Stinky Kid from RTV 3200) decided to add his $.02 into the discussion in film class today about whether or not Quentin Tarantino is a racist due to Tarantino's extensive use of the word "nigger" in various films, more specifically True Romance which he wrote. His statement to say Tarantino is not a racist was, "He made films like Jackie Brown....and what-not." The mere use of this term invalidated everything he said which could have had any meaning as it took my focus away from his statements and moved it to the fact that he should have kept his mouth shut unless he could better express his thoughts in a complete manner. Too many people want to hear the sound of their own voice in public, though fail to consider whether anything valuable is going to spring forth from the anus which resides on their faces.
Also, I get tired in the same way of people qualifying what they say by over using the word "but." Most of the time, you can tell from their pattern of speech that a but is coming soon and it shifts my thought process from listening to consciously getting ready to strike what they just said and then figuring out if what they are about to say is worth listening to at all. Qualifiers take away from the gravity of what one is trying to say in that what comes before and after the but conflict or one overshadows the other.
I'm also reading Herman Hesse's Siddhartha right now as well as re-reading Clavell's Shogun for the 3rd time.
Now that the stress of the semester is dissipating, I think I'll post more often and let the words flow....
Elation through elevation,
Evan