beulahbondo's Diaryland Diary

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Yeah I know

I know, I know, and maybe only I know because no one reads me anymore, but I have not posted in a while. I'm going to warm up by reposting this very good guide to rhetorical devices and blogging cliches from Gawker. We did this once when I worked on the copy desk at a National Business Magazine and our list included such lazy conclusions as "it's too early for the bottom line, but so far, it's a strategy that seems to work."

Here's the Gawker post. It's really long, so I'll post it in pieces:

"An annotated list of words, phrases, and terms that have long overstayed their welcome in the media-blogosphere. Send in your own, and as always, feel free to chime in comment-wise.

Best. [ultimate thing or experience.] Ever/Evar.
Likely originating in the reverse ("worst [x] ever"), this clich� still has a deathgrip on the media, in all its sincere and sarcastic permutations. It's usually taken to mean a state of permanent, perpetual bestness, which is of course unsustainable. Sooner or later, something will not be the best [x] ever, and this phrase is a perfect example.

[undesirable counter-example], not so much.
The punchline that ends a thousand million columns and blog posts. Weak as the lightest of lite beers, or the puny farts you get from such beer.

FTW, O RLY, lol, FTL, OMG, FWIW, btw, PWND, ROTFL, etc.
These are borderline acceptable if you're instant messaging, speed-typing while online gaming, or expressing approval of a pornographic image posted to your favorite kink forum. Beyond that, stop it. Even if your audience uses these expressions in daily life, such practice should not be encouraged. Self-consciously peppering normal discourse with geekspeak acronyms (especially when used in conjunction with non-geek subjects) no longer rescues your words by way of anti-coolness. See also: "teh" anything.

3:50 p.m. - 2006-12-15

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