Hal Bent for Leather

Saturday, 22nd Sep, 2018 by Krilling for Company in 2SLGBTQ+ Community Issues, English Usage, Guardianistas, In Terms Of, Quotations and tagged bikers, English Usage, gay community, gay fetishes, Glenn Hughes, Guardian-reading community, Guardianese, Guardianistas, heavy metal, in terms of, ito, Judas Priest, leather community, leather look, LGBTQ+, metal music, Rob Halford, rock music, The Guardian, Village People | Leave a comment

It isn’t the best possible phrase to be governed by “in terms of” in the pages of
The Guardian, but the combination below may be the archetypal item of Guardianese:

And what about the leather? Was that also a signal? [Rob Halford:] “It wasn’t conscious. But how ironic that I chose that look – Glenn, the biker from the Village People. That wasn’t my attachment, in terms of the gay community, but I understood the power of that look.” — How Judas Priest invented heavy metal, The Guardian, 10×2010.

Elsewhere other-engageable:

• All posts interrogating issues around “in terms of”
• All posts interrogating issues around the Guardian-reading community and its affiliates

Poovy Postscript

The title of this post was originally “Highway to Hal”, which is feeble. I don’t know why I didn’t think a bit longer and come up with the present title, which has a double entendre (your actual French, ducky).

Oh My Guardianisticity!

Wednesday, 18th Jul, 2018 by Krilling for Company in English Usage, Guardianistas, In Terms Of and tagged Brexit, England, English football, English Usage, Gareth Southgate, Guardian, Guardian newspaper, Guardianese, Guardianistas, in terms of, ito, soccer, unity, World Cup | Leave a comment

He’s been mixing with the wrong people:

“Our supporters and our country has had a long time suffering in terms of football. […] Our country has been through some difficult moments recently in terms of unity but sport has the power to unite — and football in particular has the power to do that.” — England manager Gareth Southgate, BBC Sport, 10vii2018.

Elsewhere other-engageable:

• Oh My Guardian #6 — the latest in the award-winning series
• All posts interrogating issues around the Guardian-reading community and its affiliates
• Ex-term-in-ate! — interrogating arguably the keyliest and coreliest Guardianista phrase
• All posts interrogating issues around “in terms of”

Oh My Guardian #4

Wednesday, 29th Nov, 2017 by Krilling for Company in English Usage, Guardianistas, In Terms Of and tagged both but also, Farah Elahi, Guardian, Guardian-readers, Guardian-reading community, Guardianese, Guardianista, Guardianistas, in terms of | Leave a comment

• The past 16 years have involved a lot of questioning and reflecting, both in terms of what it means to be “good”, but also on the various racist myths about Muslims. — Let’s be clear: Muslims are neither good nor bad. We’re just human, Farah in terms of Elahi, The Guardian, 14/xii/2017.

Elsewhere other-available:

• Oh My Guardian #1
• Oh My Guardian #2
• Oh My Guardian #3
• Reds under the Thread

Zo with the Flo

Monday, 24th Apr, 2017 by Krilling for Company in English Usage, Guardianistas, In Terms Of and tagged bad English, core, engage with, engagement with, English prose, English Usage, Google Ngram, Guardian, Guardianese, in terms of, issues around, ITO usage metrics, key, liberal English, linguistics, ngrams, notions of authenticity, statistics, The Guardian, Zoe Williams | Leave a comment

I had high hopes when I engaged issues recently around a Zoë Williams article in the Guardian interrogating issues around notions of rape in popular culture. And Zoë — what a thinker! — nearly fulfilled those hopes. I nearly had another scintillating sample for my award-winning “Oh My Guardian” series. This is nearly a perfect opening for a sentence of echt Guardianese:

In terms of narrative tropes…

But it should of course have been:

In terms of core narrative tropes…

So near — and yet so far. Still, “In terms of narrative tropes” is pretty darn good, worthy of the Great Gary himself. And it prompted me to interrogate issues around one of the core linguistic enigmas of our day. Here are two graphs from Google nGrams:

In terms of (UK English)

In terms of (US English)

What on earth is going on? Why have ITO usage metrics continued to rise in British English while peaking and falling in American English? This hasn’t happened with other core items of progressive English, like “issues around”:

Issues around (UK English)

Issues around (US English)

And “notions of authenticity”:

Notions of authenticity (UK English)

Notions of authenticity (US English)

And “engagement with” (in its progressive sense):

Engagement with (UK English)

Engagement with (US English)

If those keyly core items of Progressivese are “spiking” so healthily on both sides of the Atlantic, why is the even keylier corer “in terms of” not doing so? At least, I would say ITO is keylier corer, but does the ITO fall in America suggest that it isn’t?

Maybe not. One possibility is that “in terms of” has been depreciated in an influential (and anti-progressive) American manual of style that hasn’t been influential in the UK. However, American speakers have failed to see that the same grounds for rejection apply to “issues around” and so on.

But it’s hard to see why American progressives would take any notice of sensible advice about rejecting ITO. It’s also hard to see why the American drop in “in terms of” shouldn’t have influenced the UK even if this hypothetical style-manual (or arbiter) isn’t influential in the UK.

Something mysterious is going on and more research is plainly needed.

Post-Performative Post-Scriptum

• Termed Out Nice Again — the mystery is solved…

Previously pre-posted:

• Septics vs Dirties
• Get Your Tox Off
• Guardianistas — all posts referencizing this core progressive demographic and their glossocentric performativity

Are U Worthy?

Friday, 10th Mar, 2017 by Krilling for Company in Über-Transgression..., English Usage, Guardianistas, In Terms Of, Keyly Committed Core Components of the Counter-Cultural Community, Transgression... and tagged 23 working days, Alan Moore, Are U Worthy?, counter-cultural, counter-cultural community, counter-culture, daily basis, dot dot dot, Genesis P-Orridge, Guardianese, Guardianistas, in terms of, issues around, J.G. Ballard, Jeremy Corbyn, Kathy Acker, Keyly Committed Core Components of the Counter-Cultural Community, Michael Moorcock, nagged by doubts, Norman Foreman B.A., phantasmagoric phrase, prior to, Stewart Home, The Guardian, transgression, transgressive, twenty-three, Vote Corbyn, Will Self, William Burroughs | Leave a comment

If you’re nagged by doubts as to whether you really are a keyly committed core component of the counter-cultural community, then simply engage issues around the following issues…

1. In terms of “in terms of”, how often do you hear this phantasmagoric phrase in terms of a daily basis?

2. Please hierarchialize the following core components of the counter-cultural icon community in terms of their “in-terms-of”-usage metrics: Will Self, J.G. Ballard, William Burroughs, Alan Moore, Miriam Stimbers, Michael Moorcock, Kathy Acker, Genesis P. Orridge, Alan Ginsberg, Stewart Home, Hubert Selby Jr., Norman Foreman (B.A.). (I.e., if you think Foreman uses “in terms of” most in terms of usage metrics, put him first; if you think Acker uses it second-most, put her second; etc.)

3. Engage issues around 1 and 2 again, replacing “in terms of” with “prior to”…

4. Engage issues around 1 and 2 again, replacing “in terms of” with “issues around”……

5. Engage issues around 1 and 2 again, replacing “in terms of” with “Vote Corbyn”………

Once you’ve engaged issues around the above issues, email your answers to Evaluator!@NakedKrunch and you should have your doubts laid to rest within 23 working days…

Previously pre-posted on Overlord of the Über-Feral…

• Les Sez
• Don’t Do Dot…
• Terminator!
• Metricizing Michael…
• Terminal Breach
• More Termination…

Oh My Guardian #2

Friday, 4th Nov, 2016 by Krilling for Company in English Usage, Guardianistas, Mixed Metaphors, Quotations and tagged American president, Donald Trump, Gary Younge, Guardian, Guardian-readers, Guardian-reading community, Guardianese, Guardianista, Guardianistas, Hillary Clinton, mixed metaphor, US president, US presidential election | Leave a comment

“Instead, Mr Comey has rocket-fuelled a venomous contest just when Mr Trump was desperate for a lifeline…” — The Guardian view on the FBI’s Clinton probe: exactly the wrong thing to do

Previously pre-posted…

• Oh My Guardian #1
• Reds under the Thread

Bash the Pash

Saturday, 16th Jul, 2016 by Krilling for Company in English Usage, Guardianistas, Quotations and tagged English language, Guardian English, Guardian-reader, Guardian-readers, Guardianese, Guardianista, Guardianistas, liberal English, liberalism, modern English, passion, passionate, passionate about, politics, The Guardian | Leave a comment

An heretical Guardianista keyly critiquizes a core component of Guardianese:

I recently considered nominating for a board position on a professional association to which I belong, so I had a look at the biographical statements of the incumbents. One claimed to be “passionate about helping individuals, businesses, and communities thrive”, another declared “a particular passion for thought leadership and executive profiling”, and another revealed “a passion for social inclusion”. Yet another claimed “a passion about creating valuable career development opportunities for the profession”. The best was the one that stated, without irony, “a passion for working on meaningful projects”.

In days gone by, job applicants listed hobbies. These days, it appears candidates are expected to declare, not merely interests or things they like doing, but things they are allegedly passionate about. — Being enthusiastic is no longer enough. Now we must all be passionate, Paul Begley, The Guardian, 13/vii/2016.

Elsewhere other-engageable:

• Ex-term-in-ate!
• Reds under the Thread
• Titus Graun — Heresy, Homotextuality, Hive-Mind
• Oh My Guardian

Don’t Do Dot…

Thursday, 10th Dec, 2015 by Krilling for Company in English Usage, Guardianistas, In Terms Of, Linguistics and tagged "Stories I Have Tried to Write", bad writing, core, core metric, counting syllables, dot dot dot, dots, ellipses, ellipsis, English language, English Usage, Guardianese, Guardianistas, headlines, in terms of, key, key indicator, Keyly Committed Core Components of the Counter-Cultural Community, linguistics, M.R. James, on a permanent basis, polysyllables, pretentious and polysyllabic, pretentious writing, prior to, simple English, simplicity, spike, stylistic trick, syllables, trailing dots, urgently throbbing monosyllables | Leave a comment

It’s a mistake to think that Guardianese, the optimal dialect of keyly committed core components of the counter-cultural community, mandates optionizing on a permanent basis for the pretentious and polysyllabic. Yes, Guardianistas are addicted to phrases like “in terms of” and “prior to”, but they also like urgently throbbing monosyllables like “key”, “core” and “spike”.

These are unnatural words, taken from headlines, not from normal English. They reveal an important truth: simplicity can be pretentious too. The two aspects of Guardianese come together in phrases like “key indicator” and “core metric”. I would say that “vital sign” and “important statistic” are better and more natural English, but you can’t tell that by counting syllables.

And sometimes Guardianese doesn’t use any syllables at all… Guardianistas also like the stylistic trick of trailing dots. I find it cheap and irritating, so I’m glad that one of my favourite writers thought the same long ago. In his essay “Stories I Have Tried to Write”, M.R. James (1862-1936) said this:

In parenthesis, many common objects may be made the vehicles of retribution, and where retribution is not called for, of malice. Be careful how you handle the packet you pick up in the carriage-drive, particularly if it contains nail parings and hair. Do not, in any case, bring it into the house. It may not be alone… (Dots are believed by many writers of our day to be a good substitute for effective writing. They are certainly an easy one. Let us have a few more……) (“Stories I Have Tried To Write”, 1929)

In short: Don’t do dot…

Elsewhere other-engageable:

• Ex-term-in-ate!
• Titus Graun
• Reds under the Thread

Metricizing Michael…

Thursday, 3rd Sep, 2015 by Krilling for Company in English Usage, Fantasy fiction, Guardianistas, In Terms Of, Linguistics, Politics and tagged '60s, 'sixties, 1960s, core colossus of the counter-culture, coreness of the colossusness, counter-cultural, counter-culturality, counter-culture, daily basis, English Usage, Guardian, Guardian-reader, Guardian-readers, Guardianese, Guardianista, i.t.o., in terms of, incendiary keystone, ito, liberal English, liberal prose, liberalism, liberals, linguistics, London, Michael Moorcock, mode of metricizing, Moorcock's Miscellany, Moorcock-fan community, mutant psychology, mutant sexuality, New Worlds, nineteen-sixties, paradigm-defying narratives, Peckham, Peckham-based author and visionary, politics, right-thinking folk, The Guardian, transgressive tornado, visionary vortex | 4 Comments

All right-thinking folk are agreed that the Peckham-based author and visionary Michael Moorcock is a core colossus of the counter-culture. As the Guardian put it in 2007, he’s “the incendiary keystone of the visionary vortex that crystallized around New Worlds magazine in the 1960s, sparking a transgressive tornado that has sculpted paradigm-defying narratives of mutant sexuality, psychology and politics on an almost daily basis for over fifty years.”

But how often have keyly committed components of the Moorcock-fan community wished they had some objective mode of metricizing the coreness of the colossusness of his counter-culturality?

Well, the wait is over dot dot dot

site:http://www.multiverse.org/ “in terms of”

About 4,910 results (0.56 seconds)

• in terms of sci-fi recommendations, I gotta go — Moorcock’s
• They’re really rebellious in terms of gender, in terms of sex, in terms of politics, the portrayal of society and race, and I really want that to be …
• In terms of games I am rediscovering Zelda: Majora’s Mask with updated graphics and sound.
• … and to describe such elements in terms of Good and Evil seems (as I hope I demonstrate) a rather useless way of looking at our problems.
• We’ve reached a point, in this new century, that can be identified as both technologically and sociologically, futuristic, even in terms of the very recent past and …
• I’m wondering about stillborn-siblings in terms of esoterica: are they the next sibling born after the stillbirth, making a short appearance (i.e. is …
• I can say I’ve had one good experience with a press release distribution service, in terms of acquiring reviews.
• In terms of chronology, however, it would have to fit in somewhere between the novels The Fortress of the Pearl and The Sailor on the Seas of [Fate]

Elsewhere other-posted:

• Ex-term-in-ate!

Oh My Guardian #1

Saturday, 18th Apr, 2015 by Krilling for Company in 2SLGBTQ+ Community Issues, Guardianistas, Politics, Quotations and tagged gay community, gay Hindu, gay issues, gay Muslim, gay vicar, Guardian, Guardian-readers, Guardian-reading community, Guardianese, Guardianista, Guardianistas, homophobia, lesbian interfaith minister, LGBT, quotations, trainee rabbi | Leave a comment

“The Naz and Matt Foundation was announced at a special service held in London for Nazim, two weeks after his funeral. The service featured contributions from a gay Muslim, gay Hindu, a gay vicar, a trainee Rabbi and a lesbian interfaith minister.” — My boyfriend killed himself because his family couldn’t accept that he was gay, The Guardian, 21/iii/2015.

Proviously post-posted (please peruse):

• Oh My Guardian #2

Overlord In Terms of Core Issues Around Maximal Engagement with Key Notions of the Über-Feral

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Tag Archives: Guardianese

Hal Bent for Leather

Oh My Guardianisticity!

Oh My Guardian #4

Zo with the Flo

Are U Worthy?

Oh My Guardian #2

Bash the Pash

Don’t Do Dot…

Metricizing Michael…

Oh My Guardian #1