The Perils of Pedantry

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

You made an inaccurate comment niggling over Bethberry's word choice of "read" vs. "view." Now I took the post as an attempt to derail the thread to debate the word choice and not the topic. Bethberry defended why she chose "read" and corrected your inaccurate post. I've been corrected by Bethberry before, it's never condescending. I actually got corrected in the same thread. Thread resumes as normal.

Now you bring over comments from another thread to try to derail this one? Instead of debating the topic you seem to want to bring over a debate with another member.

Thank you for understanding my meaning, Boro. Much appreciated. And good stuff that you want to maintain the integrity of this thread.

Originally Posted by Michael Murry

The Theory and Practice of Inoffensive Tonality
Quote:
Bêthberry: "It isn't the criticism that drew my concern but the tone and attitude towards others."
An interesting comment from one who addressed the following to me in another thread (the one about "reading" a television broadcast):

Quote:
“Where to begin? Well, with literary and cinematic theory, which use "text" as a metaphor for anything which is conceptualised as conveying meaning. These meanings are then interpreted. [bold] This is a relatively recent (well, in the last fifty years or so) meaning of the word "text" so perhaps you can be forgiven if you aren't aware of it, especially if you don't know much critical theory.”[/bold]
I find the tone -- which means "a speaker/writer's attitude towards his or her listeners/readers" -- of the highlighted passage both dismissive and condescending. I have not requested anyone's forgiveness nor do I require any. But I do thank you for the opportunity to highlight the distinction between propounding a Theory of Inoffensive Tonality and the choice not to practice it.
Yesterday 02:49 PM

I am very sorry, Michael Murry, if you found my words "dismissive and condescending". That was certainly not my intent. Having been challenged in my use of words, I simply wished to provide the provenance of that usage, a source which is thoroughly legitimate and meaningful. I had added a smiling smilie, which is not shown in your quote, to demonstrate my point was meant kindly and of good intent. It can be difficult to interpret smilies and so I take from this that perhaps in future I should use more words and fewer images.

See you round the forum.