Insanity Now, Serenity Later? New Annoyances Thread

[C of heartbreak]

Can Weezer beefeat at last?

[Andrew_TSKS]

Fair enough. You know what I'm talking about though, right? Other examples escape me at the moment because most academic writing is pretty forgettable, but every time I've started an article that begins with a dictionary definition and devolves quickly into some invariably hyphenated re-imagining (OOOH!) of a word central to the paper's argument which has nothing to do with etymology or even language in the strictest sense... Yeah. Big inward groan. It seems to happen more often in womens studies-oriented stuff.

yeah, i hate this stuff too. 

[SPACERACE]

i got one. my car laid a steamer earlier, so now i have to sleep at work at least tonight, and hopefully get another one before the weekend, somehow.

[Little Sixes Little Nines]

you have to sleep at work? is there no one to give you a ride?

[Bernard]

Fair enough. You know what I'm talking about though, right? Other examples escape me at the moment because most academic writing is pretty forgettable, but every time I've started an article that begins with a dictionary definition and devolves quickly into some invariably hyphenated re-imagining (OOOH!) of a word central to the paper's argument which has nothing to do with etymology or even language in the strictest sense... Yeah. Big inward groan. It seems to happen more often in womens studies-oriented stuff.

yeah, i hate this stuff too. 

If nothing ever started with a dictionary definition again it would be too soon.

[elpollodiablo]

Yah, agreed. It's something I know they tried to drum out of kids in a few of my writing classes... so why am I seeing it in academic journals? Is so astigmatized.

[elpollodiablo]

Also I brought this up in class today and my professor was not pleased at all. She said that it's "pretty standard practice" for critical texts that "employ deconstruction." Uh...huh. So apparently in her conception of things, post-structuralism gives you carte blanche to make meaningless bad puns and pass them off as insights.

[andronicus]

I have almost posted this comment, but decided not to like three times over the last few days, but:

Miles, you are an English major.

I mean, that doesn't just come with the territory, that is pretty much the whole fucking territory right there.

[elpollodiablo]

What? Poorly written scholarship and essential misunderstandings of major theoretical movements? Cuz I'd say that's the kind of stuff people in my field should be trying to do away with. 


I mean really I don't understand quite what you're getting at. Kind of a facile remark that could be applied to any discipline in the humanities, esp. philosophy/

[andronicus]

Most of the work produced in lit. crit. and in philosophy or any subject in the humanities are basically poorly-written and ham-handed attempts to duplicate the previous generation's scholarly insights.  You got to develop a coping method for this shit if you are at all interested in academia.

[elpollodiablo]

Well you know seeing as how I've been curled into a fetal position for most of the past several days, eating food that tastes like ashes and punching myself in the dick, I guess you're right. I mean, this stuff should really go in the HORRIBLE LIFE-SHATTERING TRAUMA thread, not the one for petty annoyances.

But thanks for the words of wisdom, Mr. First Year Grad Student

[C of heartbreak]

Wow, Dr Richard doling out the tough love.

To be fair it's not at all limited to the humanities, though.

[andronicus]

Just testing pollo's knee-jerk defensive mechanisms.  Everything seems to be operational people, we can all go back to work now.

[elpollodiablo]

Whatever DUDE, you stick to your meaningless intellectual masturbation and I'll stick to mine

[G.C.R]

Whee! deal! i just realised I've been talking about Freudian interpretation in my last few essays in english, mainly because in the test on 'Frankenstien' it got me a big tick and (excellent!) written in red ink in the margin. I cant believe the level of stupidity expected of us in this course, I actually think she was impressed that I knew who Freud was. Ooh, I should see if I can mention Julian Casablancas and watch the A pluses roll in. But I'm worried that she'll think I'm the sort of person who looks to Freud for interpretations of everything and I'm not one of those.

[Good Intentions]

Don't get caught into the whirlpool of namedropping! As time goes on, you have to keep updating who it is you reference so you don't get caught out as a one-trick pony, and have to go for more and more esoteric connections in order to seem clued up and attentive. At first year it's Freud and Julian Casablancas, at second it's Céline and Sartre, by the time you graduate you're referring to Merleau-Ponty on codifiability in semantics essays. Break out while you can!

[elpollodiablo]

It must be neat to be at an institution where there's even the illusion that people are following your intellectual development from year to year

[elpollodiablo]

It's raining outside

It's raining outside and I am imagining all of the things I could have accomplished had I really applied myself. Had I really given a SHIT

[sassymcassface]

current annoyance: trying to have a conversation with someone and having them tell me not to respond, to just sit and understand.

ugh ugh ugh.

i'm not a moron, guy.

[elpollodiablo]

I am calling a moratorium on the saying of private ideas

[citrus]

i'm gonna come right out and ask it, i've been wondering since i was a lurker.

is that devil chicken hug made just for you because it would be a weird coincidence if it wasn't.

[girl]

i'm gonna come right out and ask it, i've been wondering since i was a lurker.

is that devil chicken hug made just for you because it would be a weird coincidence if it wasn't.

It's pollo and Andrew. 

[citrus]

i'm starting to warm up to this board's mythology instead of being intimidated by it i think.

[jebreject]

 

[dieblucasdie]

Hey, quick, everybody name your favorite German philosopher.