burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

It took me several years after I graduated from college to learn to write clear, simple prose that people would actually read. I had taken a two-year Humanities course that forced us to read dozens of old books with 250-word paragraphs written in flowery, embellished BS. Why use a five cent word when a $20 word will do?

The only place that stuff is relevant is in the halls of higher learning. I'm not knocking it — I learned a lot about many aspects of Western civilization, and would take the course again — but the reading was an insular environment of rarefied air made unbearable by the authors' incessant word farts! 110 pages a night of that will make most people go mad.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

When I was a kid I found copies of the old McGuffey Readers in a trunk in my Grandparent's farm house attic. I read them (I was 9th grade I think. It may have been when I was younger in 5th grade, both years I spent the summer on the farm.) The one room school for the area only went to 8th grade and both my grandparents attended it. So this would have been an upper grade elementary version of the book. The vocabulary made modern text books look like they are for special needs students. I showed one off at school and one of my teacher's told me I was in a minority being able to read that material without trouble. At Ca. State University Los Angeles I once mentioned them to a couple of professors in a seminar for working teachers and the Dean commented they had graduate students who would have trouble with them and his assistant dean added - I can think of some professors who would have trouble with the vocabulary.

fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

After she came home from food shopping, my wife told me she was promoting me to "Produce Rotation and Storage Manager." I was thrilled until she said, "It means you bag the vegetables and put them the refrigerator bins."

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Now that's funny!!! This guy should write resumes!!

Abo

Abo

I suppose that would not be energy to move or growth of new cells.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

That's not surprising! I remember reading some humanities texts with a modern dictionary, an old English dictionary, a thesaurus, and a note pad in hand, finding and noting new words on most pages. If you didn't read the footnotes, you had no idea what the author was writing about, because there was no equivalent modern context for a lot of the historical circumstances or concepts involved. The language had changed that much over the centuries.

Somehow, I doubt the reading load is as rigorous, or as challenging, in today's equivalent courses. But I'm sure students have to suffer through some of it!

The head of our English department at the time was a big proponent of the concept that, "Clarity rules." He meant that our readers should find our prose accessible at a glance, without need for translation.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Rolling on the floor laughing!

This reminds me of Monty Python.

Timmers Loc: San Antonio Texas.

No one believes this none sense! Hogers on here all use dish washers!

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

You are correct, it is a solid waste product.

RiJoRi Loc: Sandy Ridge, NC

Sesquipedalians never eschew obfuscation!