I read Sabotabby’s most recent post, suffered strong pangs of empathy, then moved on with life til I nipped over to Pandagon and saw that Amanda had posted on it and linked to Feministe–and also to something called a Tim Blair. Following that last link, I found a page that can be accurately summarized thusly:
!!111Girls who swear have cooties!!11111 and feminists are stupid wussies111!!11 and guys who say feminist stuff are HOMOS*******!!1111!!
Though you’d think they wouldn’t, given the level of writing talent I observed above, apparently there are people out there who actually care what this dude has to say, leading me to ascertain that he has some kind of notoriety for something. Oh, I’m so uninformed! First I don’t know who Rachel Lucas is, now I don’t know who Tim Blair is…in my defense, I do know what Bernoulli’s equations are and can even use them to design a biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility, which I bet neither Rachel Lucas nor Tim Blair can do. (If that example seems appropos of nothing, I apologize–that’s what I was doing all last week and it’s permeating my brain. Even spending the day at the pool alternately marinating in chlorine and UV rays didn’t cook it out of me.)
Wikipedia is my favorite resource for stuff that I don’t really care about to the point where a flaw in the accuracy of the material presented would break my heart but that I am at the moment interested in, so I dutifully called up the page and typed in Tim Blair and clicked Search. And there it was!
Tim Blair is a journalist, commentator and blogger working in Sydney, Australia. His columns and blog are generally written in a humorous style, from a conservative viewpoint.
Isn’t a “humorous conservative” an oxymoron? Like “compassionate conservative?” Oh, well, it got George Bush elected; I suppose the same morons who fell for the latter are ripe pickin’s for the former. To continue–
In 2004, the Sydney Morning Herald said [blah blah wrote this voted that makes money off advertising] and has also written for Fox News.
Oh well, that’s all they needed to say in the first place! Passive-aggressive venom-dripping poorly disguised lack of actual incisive analytical intellect! Now I get it. “Humorous conservative!”
Blair is particularly critical of Islamofascism
HEY, me too. And “irregardless,” and “alright,” and many others–there are almost a million words in the English language, do we have to persist in using words that don’t really exist? Hey, maybe he and I have soulmate potential after all.
That’s most of the entry, except for an additional list of people he doesn’t like, of whom I recognize only Al Gore by name, and people he does like, none of whom I recognize by name.
Well, that’s that then–classifying Tim Blair in brain under “insignificant moron, cross-ref wingnut, cross-ref misogynist subclassification smarmy” (the other subclassification is rabid in case anyone was wondering) and then moving on to actual, interesting stuff.
“HEY, me too. And “irregardless,” and “alright,” and many others” – I LOLed, and I don’t LOL while reading often.
As far as I can tell, his blogging is limited to:
1. Let’s destroy the environment!
2. Palestinians will eat your children!
3. F**king wimminz and their f**king pottymouths!
No dogs, though. I was disappointed.
He seems to be a misogynist of the subcategory that believes all women are arrested at the mental age of 6, and shouldn’t be allowed to use the naughty words reserved for Teh Menz. The fact that he, in all seriousness, uses the term “pottymouth” speaks volumes.
“Isn’t a “humorous conservative” an oxymoron?”
Not really. Seems to me all the funniest writers I know of are conservatives. Jeremy Clarkson, P J O’Reily are two that spring immediately to mind. Makes a nice change from all the angry, angry, the world is all wrong – fix it now liberals I read.
Hi Lisa! I came to see what you are about when I saw the link at Tim Blair’s blog. Tell me, do you know anyone that can say in public that they voted for Bush? You missed a really funny one where we all tried to encapsulate the names for Bush – you know, Chimpy MackkkHitlerburton kind of thing.
But its very funny to see the comments you have allowed above – sort of like a comic aside in “Chicken Run”.
Oooh, golly. You can do math! And engineering, apparently. Good for you; the western world needs more folks with talent like you.
I don’t know if Tim and Rachel can design pharmaceutical plants. But they can write well enough to pull in thousands of page views every day. And Tim is hardly a misogynist; he just likes women who are different from you.
Rachel may be a misogynist; I can’t say either way. But she definitely is a misopossumist.
A Tim Blair would probably chuck the blogging game in for good if he pulled the amount of responses we see here. 3 in 17 hours .Geeze even from the jaundiced sub culture that this blog presumably trades on ,you would have thought would generate more interest tahn that .
Then again maybe it is that people recognise blatant attempts to justify the writers shortcomings when they do the worthy of Olympic medal winning straw clutch by pointing to ” I do know what Bernoulli’s equations are and can even use them to design a biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility,”….
How embarrassing for you.
Sadly it hasn’t helped you much in life has it.
PS please pass on my regards to Mrs Bernoulli. I understand her lasagne is to die for.
“HEY, me too. And “irregardless,” and “alright,” and many others–there are almost a million words in the English language, do we have to persist in using words that don’t really exist?”
There is a difference between words that aren’t real, like “irregardless” and “alright”, and neologisms, like Islamofascism. The latter refers to (brace for it) Islamic fascism, which is characterized by such practices as forbidding women to drive, forcing them to wear prescribed clothing, killing them for “dishonoring” their families by doing things like refusing an arranged marriage, and whipping them for being in the company of a man without proper supervision.
I’m not sure what their stance is on women swearing, though, so yes, Blair might be the bigger misogynist. Apparently.
What is a Lisa Kansas? Who gives a ****. Certainly not many males, by the look of things. Look harder dear – I’m sure you can settle for one of those emasculated males the democrats are so clever in producing.
Funny facts – Tim is happily partnered with a female, and gets paid to write humourous articles about cars. I’d say his carefactor of your assessment of him would be close to zero. Enjoy the increased traffic, dear.
What about selling a T-shirt reading “I hate Tim Blair and I never read his column”.
“Isn’t a “humorous conservative” an oxymoron?”
No. The only people who think that don’t know any conservatives. Like you, for instance.
Not sure where you get Tim Blair = misogynist from. The wiki article sure doesn’t back up that claim.
I demand a higher quality of trolls than we’re getting lately—preferably ones courageous enough to type the word “shit.”
Blair’s major activities revolve around pointing out the stupid and irrational things posted on the internet each day. While he does add commentary at times, he often just allows the morons to speak for themselves.
Gad, what an avalanche of offended fans. I swear I didn’t pop onto Tim Blair’s site and leave a nastygram complete with my url or anything. Lemme nip over and check out this mystery–omg, say it ain’t sooooo!
Oh, but notoriety is such a fickle mistress; I’d better jump on this bandwagon before they all decamp and go find a REAL blogger to be offended at. Woot!
Aw, c’mon, Sabo, get into the spirit of things–at least this bunch isn’t threatening not to marry us. It just doesn’t get any harsher than that, girlfriend.
“do we have to persist in using words that don’t really exist?”
First, you need to read up a little on linguistics. If you know what the word means, then it’s a word and therefore exists. People use “alright”, you know what it means, therefore it’s a word. Objecting the evolution of language is the refuge of pretentious dinosaurs who are desperate to prove that they are more intelligent than the hoi polloi. This brings me to the next point.
If you really want to prove how smart you are, please explain why feminists doesn’t care that in many countries in the world today under sharia law, adulterous women are stoned to death. This is not just in the minds of us humourless conservatives. It’s happening to real women. Let’s see some outrage please, and while you’re at it, you can get outraged at polygamy, forced marriage, child marrige, forcing women to keep their “shameful” bodies covered at all times, clitoridectomy, etc. Then once you’re done being outraged (I’m not holding my breath), you can tell us why “islamofascism” doesn’t exist.
(rubs hands together briskly) Hokay, let’s see what we’ve got here–
Polymath: I am fascinated to hear that conservatives spend their time spreading the message happy happy the world is perfect just like it is leave it alone–could you possibly provide some corroborating evidence for that?
Hi Chris! I know lots of people who say in public that they voted for Bush–is this unusual? I’m afraid I don’t get the reference to “Chicken Run”–haven’t ever seen it.
Gordon: According to the government, in 2001 there were over five million of us diligently crunching numbers in the US, so I can only take about 1/5,000,000 of your congratulations for myself personally. But we like being appreciated–makes a change from being made fun of by more socially integrated lifeforms. Tragically, “liking” women who are “different from me” does not a non-misogynist make. A cessation of pointless double-standards for the genders, now, that would be a step in the right direction.
Wacko: Yes, I would agree that someone who makes his living by writing should probably get a different day job if he didn’t pull any more traffic than me. Happily, those like myself who are just in this for the fun of it don’t have to concern ourselves with how many responses we get. Oh, the freedom of not HAVING to write to please!
You mistake my straw-clutching motives–I was attempting to justify my woeful ignorance of such literary giants as Wachel and Tim, not my personal writing skills or lack thereof. I must say that you are the first person I have ever heard try to claim that solid math skills aren’t much help in life–would you like to elaborate?
Whew, I’m pooped. Break time!
Objecting the evolution of language is the refuge of pretentious dinosaurs who are desperate to prove that they are more intelligent than the hoi polloi.
Thank you for that reminder of the tenets of first-year linguistics. Unfortunately, the way language works is a bit more complicated than “if you and the person with whom you are communicating both know the meaning of a particular lexical item, then it’s a word.” Even most linguists I know recognize this, and would hesitate to use “irregardless,” “alright,” or “the hoi polloi” among people who know that those particular lexical items are kind of the linguistic equivalent of sitting down to dinner and blowing your nose on the linen napkins—yes, you can do that, but most grownups know better.
Correctness, like language, is an entirely social construct. If the majority of language users of a certain language at a given time in a given plac believe a particular usage is “correct,” or “elegant,” or even “cool,” then it will persist as such. Correctness, like coolness, is always in flux. Many common usages—saying “fuck that noise” in response to a blog post, for example—are deemed appropriate in some registers—the comments section of this blog, for example—but would be deemed entirely inappropriate in others—in front of a classroom of fifth-graders, perhaps. It’s not that the fifth graders don’t know what “fuck that noise” means. It’s just inappropriate for that setting. Similarly, you know what you mean when you say “the hoi polloi,” and I know what you mean; however, I also know that “hoi polloi” means “the people,” and “the hoi polloi” makes no sense. You’ve branded yourself as not entirely fluent with that particular expression, and as someone whose writing on this blog is in a less formal, academic register.
The usage also betrays either carelessness or ignorance, and is therefore plain wrong.
And no, that’s not outrage. That’s pedantry.
Also, and oh sigh, check out the comments. These people think that you, me, and Marc are all the same person. They don’t quite understand the internets, do they?
pete m: I’d say his carefactor of your assessment of him would be close to zero. Enjoy the increased traffic, dear.
Shit, pete m is everywhere, defending his master Blair.
Hey pete m — if Blairy’s carefactor [sic] of Lisa’s assessment was close to zero, why did he make a blog out of it then?
Hmm?
No, didn’t think you could answer that.
Hi Lisa. This is what happens when Timmay links to other blogs critical or mocking of him — all his flying monkeys then go and attack the blog in question.
Every. Single. Time.
Silly, isn’t it? We think so, too.
Cheers.
Hi Lisa!
Tim likes being the “bad boy” of conservative politics here, but he only does it to puncture sacred cows. The phrase “enfant terrible” was made for him. Not so much Michael Savage as Michael Palin (you know… Monty Python?) P.J O’Rourke with a blog.
5 million engineers in the US? Yes, but how many of those are female? 10%? As a member of the Women in Technology and Communications, I know the kind of peer-pressure that exists against female engineers. And we’re trying to do something about it. Congrats on resisting it. I know it’s sexist to say that “a woman must be twice as good as a man to get the same recognition…. but this is not hard”, but it has a grain of truth. Both parts. Darwinian selection, many boys drift into engineering, not really caring, but girls have to really want to be engineers.
Many at Tim’s are neo-cons (though that means something different in Oz than the US) and vote Liberal (which is to say, conservative… I told you it’s different here). Even those of us who are members of probably the most persecuted minority group in the USA today, only 0.02% of the population, but being murdered at the rate of one a fortnight.
OTOH I’d have more rights in the US than as a woman in most of the Middle East. Daddy dave has a good point, the Feminist movement has not done nearly enough to help those of us enslaved outside our comfy western domiciles. We’re so afraid of being culturally imperialist that we acquiesce to barbarity.
Enough, I’m being entirely too serious. Good luck in finding a new ex-husband. Mr Right is good, but a few Mr Wrongs along the way can be fun. Er… so I’m told.
OMG, that is SO awesome.
We are ONE, like the three incarnations of Morrigan or Hecate! or maybe we’re more like Cerberus.
“Punkansastabby!”
“Isn’t a “humorous conservative” an oxymoron?”
No, the word “feminist” is supposed to appear in place of conservative.
Lessee–hey, there are more than when I left before. Oh well. Duty only requires I acknowledge each poster ONCE, right..? After that it gets to be determined based on quality, not quantity?
Dave S: I’m afraid that simply making a word up and using it, regardless of whether it is one moron doing so or a whole herd of ‘em, does not a neologism make. The word must enter the language in accepted, common usage, which Islamofacism is not–being used only and solely by conservative wingnuts is not “common usage.” For instance, the verb “to Google” has made it into the dictionary, thereby earning the designation “neologism.”
pete m: I always get confused by people who make a point of busting without the faintest hint of personal encouragement into my face just so they can tell me they don’t give a, er, series of asterisks about me. You’re sending mixed signals, bro.
I love my emasculated males! they lick the best pussy and have the thickest cocks with the most talented moves. At least that’s been my experience of them thus far.
Rafe: You know, I feel like I gotta say something to everybody, but I have no idea what to say to that. …I don’t need the money?
Daddy Dave: Au contraire, I dated one for a few years and then was married to him for a few more, so I got to know him and his entire conservative circle of family and friends quite well.
Joe: Anyone who castigates women for an activity that he doesn’t equally castigate men for is practicing a double standard, which if he continues on by making it clear that discriminatory and/or diminutizing behavior aimed at women is just so cute and funny, is giving clear signs of misogyny. Though I admit I have not yet determined whether or not his is the “hatred” brand of misogyny or the “contempt” brand of misogyny, mostly because I lost interest in him as soon as I finished writing this blog post. You have all inspired a renewed spurt of interest, however–we’ll see how long that lasts.
Hey Lisa,
Cousin Tim sent sent me over here cause he saids there’s chicks here.
Do you wanna marry me ? I’m a guy, and uh, stuff …
And when I’m outa work sometimes Tim lends me beer money – but if you can like, build drugstores out of Bernelli’s (I know, those fancy Italian tires), then maybe you can brew some beer or mash liquor or suchlike in the basement for me.
So, c’mon Lisa – wanna marry me ? Or maybe you gotta friend who’s a bit chunky like, I could marry her ?
“I also know that “hoi polloi” means “the people,” and “the hoi polloi” makes no sense. You’ve branded yourself as not entirely fluent with that particular expression, and as someone whose writing on this blog is in a less formal, academic register.”
oh right you know what hoi polloi means becuse you googled it? You missed this from wikipedia
hoi polloi
…Apparently the Chicago Manual of Style says I’m right. So who’s not familiar with the expression?
You needed reminding. Don’t pretend you didn’t. Your argument now is that the words show lack of sophistication but your original claim was that they didn’t exist.
Lisa,
I have found (actually Maths would be a disastrous example ),however to continue, Maths skills help you in Maths . Not beyond that sphere especially ,( other than to tally how much petrol* has risen ,) but nigh on useless for analysing the workings/non workings of Tim Blair’s mind and his motivations.
* That’s Gas to most from the US of A I believe .
PS You are officially on your 15 mins of fame as Tim’s site gets gazillions of readers and now many of them know of your little cyber -corner.
PPS Not all of us are misog …err misoggee – damn it female haters either. Some of us are quite partial to them for even more than servant and sexual servitude type duties… Plucking out my back hair where I can’t reach for instance …
Last two for the night!
Hi Deedra! …hee, flying monkeys. Is this the usual attack horde, then?
Hi Zoe! Well yeah, on my jobsite of 200-plus , I am the only female engineer who is actually working as an engineer with an engineering degree, even. It is a lonely life.
I do know exactly what you’re talking about, though, I wrote a couple of blog posts about it a while back.
Ouch: “We’re so afraid of being culturally imperialist that we acquiesce to barbarity.” Yeah, that’s one I struggle with.
Oooh, I was joking about looking for another ex. Really. Then again, it is a charming notion to add yet ANOTHER surname to the pile…
Daddy dave: I wouldn’t attempt to start a grammar or usage argument with Zingerella. You will get your ass handed to you—spectacularly. Especially given that you’ve managed to make six grammar and spelling errors in 17 words.
Wacko: That’s just incoherent. If you don’t know that the space goes after the comma or can’t bother to look up the correct spelling of “misogynist,” you shouldn’t be playing in the grown-up part of the internets.
Lisa, can we be a Hydra? We’re only three heads short.
Hi, I like this! You and your firends write well, and argue better. Glad to have come and seen.
What happened to that PhisioProf feller?
There’s a guy I’d like him to meet –
his pic’s over at Zombietime.com under
Up Your Alley
Lisa: hee, flying monkeys. Is this the usual attack horde, then?
Oh, most definitely! All the usual suspects (read: wankers) are here.
Sabotabby – ‘I demand a higher quality of trolls than we’re getting lately—preferably ones courageous enough to type the word “shit.” ‘
Okay, shit. Now iron my shirt woman. Er, womyn. Or, whatever.
Tim Blair. Pffft! A hyper-nuerotic who is now infamous for leading with his glass jaw. A quick click on the following will fill your readers in glass-jaw wise.
http://blairboltwatch.wordpress.com/2008/07/30/his-enemies-are-tacky/
Incidentally, Tim has a habit of trolling for websites that criticise him and linking to his blog so that his readers can do the attacking rather than him. Narcissistic? Absolutely. Uber-Wimp? Definately. Also desperate, pathetic and smack-down territory for those with grey matter.
Ignore his sheep who’ve invaded this blog. You can be sure that if you’ve attracted Blair droppings you’ve hit a raw nerve.
YOU GO GIRL!
confessions: “Tim has a habit of trolling for websites that criticise him”
Did you mean “trawling”?
And Tim’s really not so sinister. Actually, he’s a bit lazy. At some blogs the owner will post several paragraphs explaining an issue. Not Tim. He’ll post a sentence or two, mentioning something funny. It’s the commenters who put in the work. They post funny comments, stories, parodies, satires, scripts, song lyrics, puns, poems — whatever their artistry and desire allows. It’s a lot of fun.
Winfield,
No I mean Trolling.
Think about it.
Sabotabby: Lisa started the grammar argument. Daddy Dave finished it.
Brett_McS:
He finished it by making a rather impressive ass of himself, if that’s what you mean.
I enjoy regularly visiting Tim Blair’s blog because he is almost always light hearted and funny. Yes, he comments on some of the important issues of the day, but he also enjoys pointing out the absurdity of those that take themselves too seriously.
He seems to have a good time and I like reading posts from folks that are happy and funny as opposed to bitter and angry. You may actually enjoy his site should you choose to read it. Then again, not everyone likes the same thing.
Take care,
Joe
I’m another Tim Blair fan!
he gets serious about cars, otherwise his posts are loose and funny. be sure to google “plastic turkey”, he’s been keeping a running count of leftoids who haven’t figured out the difference between a real edible turkey used for display versus an inedible plastic turkey. sounds odd, but trust me it’s funny.
We coin words all the time. Just because a word doesn’t exist in your dictionary doesn’t mean it’s not a real word. When did the word “blog,” for instance cross the line from being a fake-word to a real-word? Or did it just suddenly appear one day, ex nihilo, into dictionaries everywhere?
I have a theory. It does not involve bunnies.
The reason so many of these cute little trolls have such difficulties understanding that Zingerella =/= Lisa, who certainly isn’t Sabo, is that there’s really not that many of them, and they just “cleverly” change their handles so that they can feel all speshul and supported.
Poor wee little boys. Are you feeling abused because some person on another blog doesn’t like your hero? Oh noes!
Strangely, my self-esteem isn’t wrapped up in what strangers on the internet think. Why is yours?
Grim: Are you aiming that comment at Lisa or Zingerella? I don’t recall anyone saying that coinages never happen or that words appear in dictionaries ex nihilo.
Hi Anna,
If someone you liked was attacked or insulted unduly, would you not want to stand up for them? All I did was mention that I liked Tim and gave the reasons why. I don’t know that I feel abused, but I did find the attacks on Tim to be unfounded and worth at least some comment.
Interestingly, the fact that you commented shows you do care what “strangers on the internet think.” Why else would you even bother to say anything?
Thanks,
Joe
Oh, now I’m Lisa! That’s weird. Usually people conflate Sabotabby and me!
I never argued that the words “irregardless,” “alright,” or “Islamofascism” didn’t exist. In fact, I conceded that they’re lexical items whose meaning is recognized.I argued that they betrayed sloppiness with respect to usage.
I further argued that sloppy usage is acceptable in some registers and unacceptable in others.
I did not state my opinions of sloppy usage other than of “the hoi polloi,” (whose meaning and declension I learned in first-year Ancient Greek several years ago. Actually, I first learned ο πολλυς (nom, sing. from which we get the nom. plural οἱ πολλοί). No need for Wikipedia when you’ve vivid memories of Attic prose composition.
When Margaret Mahey, the editor of CMOS 15 spoke, before a gathering I attended, she admitted that, among the arguments for and against certain usages, the editors of the 15th edition did the research and went with what they considered the most standard usages. In some cases, such as many of their references to Canadian usage, the editors were lamentably wrong. This means that they took a rather descriptivist approach to preparing a prescriptive text. CMOS is, however, merely one tool for determining what one group of editors deemed “acceptable.” You will still find many educated people who hear “the hoi polloi,” and think something along the lines of “the the people?! That makes no sense, you ignoramus!” You may decide that you don’t care what these people think—if it’s good enough for the editors of the CMOS and those members of “the hoi polloi” who are even familiar with the term, then it’s good enough for your writing. This is your prerogative, and it tells your readers something about you.
Similarly, if you use irregardless in professional writing, people who know the difference (and who may or may not have endured Linguistics 101) will wonder about your linguistic acumen and professionalism. If you use alright, they will be pretty certain that either your eighth-grade English teacher was delinquent or that you simply do not take a careful approach to language. If you use Islamofascism cavalierly, you reveal yourself to be someone who agrees with Christopher Hitchens as to the utility and precision of the term. That, too, is your prerogative. It’s all in what you wish your readers to think.
Dammitall! Hit post too soon! This is a problem with doing blogs at lunch.
It was Margaret Mahan who edited CMOS 15, and whom I heard speak! I was in the middle of checking the name when the phone rang and everything went to Hades.
Also, the Greek looked fine in preview, and then didn’t render in the comments section. Perhaps someone more HTML-savvy than I can tell me why, so I don’t litter bad code across your comments section again? Please?
Also, I’m flattered to be conflated with Lisa, or Sabo.
Now, lunch.
zingerella: entities need to be closed with a semi-colon in HTML. TBH I’d use the actual Greek characters using copy-and-paste if needs be– οἱ πολλοί– otherwise you don’t get the breathing marks and the polytonic diacritics. I don’t know whether you can edit posts.
As to the rest of your comment: well said!
Thank you, Marnanel! I cannot edit posts, but if one of my … erm … alter egos on the PAB editorial team were able to do so, I would be grateful. My gratitude might take the form of cookies.