Text 118, 70 rader
Skriven 2004-09-26 09:19:03 av Bob Lawrence
     Kommentar till en text av Robert Bull
Ärende: Pterry for Christmas
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BL> If I promise to "grow" a business, the dickhead handign his
BL> hard-earned to the conman has all those things in his mind, but
BL> the bank or the money-manager does none of those things.

RB> A way of gaining credit for someone else's labour? I suspect
RB> some of it is to aggrandise deeply mundane chores and make the
RB> world of business sound more exciting and important than it is.

 ahh... good thought! And to justify the high fees they charge for
nothing much.

RB> New Scientist has a reminder of engineering euphemisms in the
RB> current issue:

RB> unplanned rapid disassembly  =  explosion
RB> uncontrolled thermal event   =  fire

 ROFL! I was never guilty of that, even in my technical-writer
heyday. I read so much of it, I rebelled. My problem is that I
go too much the other way. "Big bang" is much more expressive than
"explosion."

RB>> the threat of having to engage in expensive legal battles in
RB>> itself is a deterrent to third parties.

BL> Do you know the correct lagal name for that... using the
BL> process of Law as the deterrent, rather than the penalty which
BL> is probably doubtful?

RB> Sorry, not off hand... There are probably inverse dictionaries
RB> for that kind of thing. Shouldn't an author have such things?
RB> ;-)

 ROFL! Don't think I haven't tried to find it. I've even asked
lawyers. We had a Premier of NSW who specialised in it (he sued to
block criticism), and a newspaper used the word, and I forgot it, and
can't find it! Of course I would never use it... no one else will know
what it means! I'd end up like those wankers who quote French or
Japanese to show how clever they are, when it only shows what wankers
they are.

RB> " Bastard" certainly seems to have largely lost its insult
RB> " value, and wanker" rarely has anything to do with sex as
RB> " such.

 "Wanker" is a wonderful word (like dickhead). It encapsulates so
much meaning, which is the point of a curse after all.

BL> Perspicacia Tick! Every time I read something like that, I get
BL> the image of Pterry giggling as he types.

RB> I wish I had some of his talent...

 Doesn't everyone? It's easy to understand how writers (songwriters,
painters, etc) just lose it. Creativity is ephermeral, and no one has
ever worked out where it comes from. I could try really hard, and
never come up with the idea of "Perspicacia," Or even "Tick." All I
can do is steal the ideas of others. For instance, I've always had a
soft spot for Blackbeard the Pirate. "Mr Teach" is such a great name
for a pirate!

 It's a shame that so much creative genius is wasted on advertising,
PR, and Spin.

Regards,
Bob
 

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 * Origin: Precision Nonsense, Sydney  (3:712/610.12)