way to insult my intelligence
So I'm reading this incredibly dry and pedantic academic text for my research, and one of the chapters starts off with the following sentence:
The critical mass is a powerful metaphor and convenient phrase often used in a deus ex machina1 manner to solve theoretical discussions.
And here's the footnote:
1Deus ex machina (latin [sic] for god from a machine) refers to the practice in Greek and Roman drama of introducing a deity by stage machinery to intervene in a difficult situation, often to untangle a complicated plot.
Yeah, no shit. I'm just amazed that the author actually felt like he had to explain what deus ex machina means. (And forgot to capitalize "Latin" in the process.)
The entire book also follows the "this is what I'm going to say; this is what I'm saying; this is what I just said" format for every section and chapter, which I loathe. Meticulously disemboweling myself with a rusty teaspoon would be only slightly more painful than finishing this book.
The critical mass is a powerful metaphor and convenient phrase often used in a deus ex machina1 manner to solve theoretical discussions.
And here's the footnote:
1Deus ex machina (latin [sic] for god from a machine) refers to the practice in Greek and Roman drama of introducing a deity by stage machinery to intervene in a difficult situation, often to untangle a complicated plot.
Yeah, no shit. I'm just amazed that the author actually felt like he had to explain what deus ex machina means. (And forgot to capitalize "Latin" in the process.)
The entire book also follows the "this is what I'm going to say; this is what I'm saying; this is what I just said" format for every section and chapter, which I loathe. Meticulously disemboweling myself with a rusty teaspoon would be only slightly more painful than finishing this book.