I picked this off Tumblr. It had 411,000+ responses. LOL
Secret Knowledge
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Any topic is acceptable, and topic drift is permissible.
Secret Knowledge
I presume this "secret knowledge" comes as no surprise to you writers out there. To me it was stunning, but I've probably used it intuitively all my life. Most of my life? Some of my life? OK, I was lucky once or twice and got the order correct.
I picked this off Tumblr. It had 411,000+ responses. LOL
I picked this off Tumblr. It had 411,000+ responses. LOL
Re: Secret Knowledge
I have it printed out and glued to my wall to the right of my desk right where I can't miss it.
Re: Secret Knowledge
Some things just don't sound right when the adjectives are out of order, but I never suspected there actually was a preferred sequence. My secret to success is to never use more than one description per noun. LOL
Re: Secret Knowledge
On the list you displayed above, they are missing 'number' as the first item, although number isn't actually an adjective, it must precede the list.
My phrase reads almost the same though: Seven lovely little old rectangular green french silver whittling knives.
My phrase reads almost the same though: Seven lovely little old rectangular green french silver whittling knives.
Re: Secret Knowledge
Yeah, the quote I cited is only about adjectives. I love your example sentence, but to be honest you can switch the position of several adjectives therein and still come up with something reasonable sounding.
Re: Secret Knowledge
As a writer, we are taught to stay away from adjectives as much as possible.
Yes, there are a few that can be mixed around different ways, but it usually depends on the construct of the sentence.
Yes, there are a few that can be mixed around different ways, but it usually depends on the construct of the sentence.
Re: Secret Knowledge
splendid! just a couple of days ago i was telling the kids about this, but mostly remembered the "bluescreened". 
now i also will print it out.
ta-ta!
mind you, i think you can float the old about a bit....
now i also will print it out.
ta-ta!
mind you, i think you can float the old about a bit....
Re: Secret Knowledge
Jimmy has a big red car. Jimmy has a red car and it is really big.
We would get killed by the editor if we used the second example, and killed again for using an 'ly word, hi hi.
We would get killed by the editor if we used the second example, and killed again for using an 'ly word, hi hi.
Re: Secret Knowledge
How would "Jimmy has an excessively large red car." go over with the editors?
My intent is to emphasize the size of the car and "big" on it's own doesn't do it.
My intent is to emphasize the size of the car and "big" on it's own doesn't do it.
Re: Secret Knowledge
They would instantly knock out the 'ly' word, and probably the word 'has' also.
Jimmy owns a gigantic red automobile. Would probably be more like what an editor would let pass.
Jimmy owns a gigantic red automobile. Would probably be more like what an editor would let pass.
Re: Secret Knowledge
OK then. That explains why I never made a living as a writer. LOL I understand what the editors are looking for, but there are too many rules for me to follow. My free style interpretation of literature is much preferred by my brain.
Re: Secret Knowledge
Only about 2% of independent writers make a living at it. So don't feel alone out there.
Like the i before e except after c rule. Applies in only about 45 out of over 900 cases.
Same applies to most writing rules. There are only three writing rules, and nobody knows what they are, hi hi.
Like the i before e except after c rule. Applies in only about 45 out of over 900 cases.
Same applies to most writing rules. There are only three writing rules, and nobody knows what they are, hi hi.
Re: Secret Knowledge
I get involved with a lot of cyber chat. The diversity of the people I meet online is astounding. The Internet turned out to be infinitely better than ham radio when it comes to meeting new people around the world. It's amazing how anything gets communicated these days. Take Twitter as an example (since I know you look into it). Everything you have to say must be confined to 280 characters. Thus people invent a lot of abbreviations and take shortcuts when using the English language. Then there are the outright grammar errors and people who can't hold a single train of thought long enough to type out 280 characters. In spite of all that, there is great communication between participants. It's the conveyance of ideas that makes Twitter work and not the rules of writing. In fact I think the whole chat community of the Internet is unaware that there are any rules at all for writing. 
Re: Secret Knowledge
I have to agree with you Yogi!
I am on Twitter, but only under my Pen Name, and only look at what authors are communicating.
I rarely, if ever, hit the main feed, hi hi.
I do wish they would have kept it at 140 characters, and the smaller size images.
Some people post textless images thinking it gets them a better response or draws more attention, when the opposite is actually true. If they type a few words at the top, then add a humongous plain image, it pushes their text up off the display window. I never roll back to see what they might have said, because their picture said it all, which was nothing.
Ham Radio is a whole different animal than Social Media or the Internet.
Ham Radio was a challenge, which required skill and knowledge, to make contact with other states and countries and get verification of same.
There are Net operations on ham radio where we can meet and greet folks, and perhaps make a sked to talk with them either individually or in a group setting.
And of course the main purpose of ham radio is for Emergency Communications when other means have failed.
The Internet is NOT a challenge to make contact. Contact with anyone, anywhere, is instantaneous.
But it is a wonderful source of information, and lots of folks to talk to if that is your goal.
A lot of things are handled on the Internet infrastructure, most of which would be illegal on Ham Radio.
Trying to compare the Internet to Ham Radio would be like trying to compare a VW Beetle or Motorcycle with a Moving Van. There are places the VW Beetle can go a moving van cannot, and then their is the Motorcycle which can go almost anywhere, hi hi.
I am on Twitter, but only under my Pen Name, and only look at what authors are communicating.
I rarely, if ever, hit the main feed, hi hi.
I do wish they would have kept it at 140 characters, and the smaller size images.
Some people post textless images thinking it gets them a better response or draws more attention, when the opposite is actually true. If they type a few words at the top, then add a humongous plain image, it pushes their text up off the display window. I never roll back to see what they might have said, because their picture said it all, which was nothing.
Ham Radio is a whole different animal than Social Media or the Internet.
Ham Radio was a challenge, which required skill and knowledge, to make contact with other states and countries and get verification of same.
There are Net operations on ham radio where we can meet and greet folks, and perhaps make a sked to talk with them either individually or in a group setting.
And of course the main purpose of ham radio is for Emergency Communications when other means have failed.
The Internet is NOT a challenge to make contact. Contact with anyone, anywhere, is instantaneous.
But it is a wonderful source of information, and lots of folks to talk to if that is your goal.
A lot of things are handled on the Internet infrastructure, most of which would be illegal on Ham Radio.
Trying to compare the Internet to Ham Radio would be like trying to compare a VW Beetle or Motorcycle with a Moving Van. There are places the VW Beetle can go a moving van cannot, and then their is the Motorcycle which can go almost anywhere, hi hi.
Re: Secret Knowledge
Let me be clear about my understanding of the Internet vs amateur radio. I've been to both schools and know how they both work from a technical point of view. They are different animals and have different purposes in life, but there is one gigantic shared capability: communications. My attraction to ham radio came as a teenager when I knew little about electronics but had a great fascination for long distance communications. I took a correspondence course to attain a first class commercial broadcast license, which I failed. I did come out of it knowing enough to pass the general license exam for amateur radio, however. A buddy and I practiced code and got our licenses together. At that time it was free. My attraction to computers was due to the work I was doing at Motorola. I had to use them well before the Internet was invented. My first encounter with a "browser" was something called Mosaic, and that was well before personal computers and Internet popularity. I did a lot of equipment control with the computers, but the part that intrigued me the most was that crude browser. I could read bulletin boards all over the world with it.
So, you see, my heart is pumped by my ability to communicate with people I've never met. I was able to do exactly that with both ham radio and the Internet. In that regard they are identical.
Twitter has multiple personalities, which might be why I like it. I'm a bit daft myself. You are using it for business purposes, which is exactly what it has evolved into being. At launch it was simply an aggregator for SMS, which is why there is a character limit in the first place. It got to be so popular that reading your phone messages became a burden. Thus people turned to the Internet to tweet. The scale for messaging increased exponentially at that point, and thus the potential mass marketing aspects became part of the Twitter experience. The social aspects are still built into the product, but neither you nor I have much interest in pursuing that. My main interest is to gather first hand reports of current events and pop culture. There is, however, so much more that I don't bother getting into.
So, you see, my heart is pumped by my ability to communicate with people I've never met. I was able to do exactly that with both ham radio and the Internet. In that regard they are identical.
Twitter has multiple personalities, which might be why I like it. I'm a bit daft myself. You are using it for business purposes, which is exactly what it has evolved into being. At launch it was simply an aggregator for SMS, which is why there is a character limit in the first place. It got to be so popular that reading your phone messages became a burden. Thus people turned to the Internet to tweet. The scale for messaging increased exponentially at that point, and thus the potential mass marketing aspects became part of the Twitter experience. The social aspects are still built into the product, but neither you nor I have much interest in pursuing that. My main interest is to gather first hand reports of current events and pop culture. There is, however, so much more that I don't bother getting into.
Re: Secret Knowledge
The darn Internet, and all the things we can do on it, eats away at a good portion of my time.
Sometimes I kick myself in the butt for letting myself get roped back into an addictive game.
As far as computers go. I love them to pieces. I don't know how I ever lived without them.
Almost everything I do, a computer is involved, and usually makes life easier in all areas.
I normally only read posts or tweets from folks I have on my Lists. Rarely if ever look at the main feeds.
I have over 12,000 followers on Twitter, but only 75 of them are in my daily read list.
I see a few of theirs when I check and read one of the hashtags I follow.
Sometimes I kick myself in the butt for letting myself get roped back into an addictive game.
As far as computers go. I love them to pieces. I don't know how I ever lived without them.
Almost everything I do, a computer is involved, and usually makes life easier in all areas.
I normally only read posts or tweets from folks I have on my Lists. Rarely if ever look at the main feeds.
I have over 12,000 followers on Twitter, but only 75 of them are in my daily read list.
I see a few of theirs when I check and read one of the hashtags I follow.
Re: Secret Knowledge
The items you see in Twitter's main stream are from people you chose to follow. You don't get to see everything there is because there are tens of thousands of tweets per second in total. I use something called Tweetdeck, which is now owned by Twitter. It allows me to create lists and organize them into columns. Only the tweets from specific people get shown in a list column. For example, all the news sources are on one list and all the technical magazines/blogs on another. The main stream is in a column of it's own. Typically I only look at one or two columns but have the ability to see what is happening in all the others as well. It serves my purposes very well, plus it is cross platform software. I even have it on my "cleverphone."
I read were Internet addiction now has an official diagnostic slot in the world of psychology. In other words it's an official disease. I like to think I am not addicted even though I spend a good deal of time on the computer. It's just something to do in between meals. LOL
I read were Internet addiction now has an official diagnostic slot in the world of psychology. In other words it's an official disease. I like to think I am not addicted even though I spend a good deal of time on the computer. It's just something to do in between meals. LOL
Re: Secret Knowledge
Viewing hashtags is how I see those tweets from those who are not friends on topics of interest.
I don't have much time to bother looking around on social media, other than to see those I purposely follow.
I don't have much time to bother looking around on social media, other than to see those I purposely follow.
Re: Secret Knowledge
#hashtags are good but they don't give the whole story. All the news outlets on my list don't even use hashtags, but they all show up in one column as "news." The downside, I suppose, is that I get all the news from these agencies and not anything specific. If I want to follow a particular topic, as opposed to a particular source, then hashtags are appropriate. The account I have for this site uses the traditional Twitter web page. My personal account is routed through the Tweetdeck software where I can sort it out properly. And, I'd agree with you that I do have a lot more free time than you do. I need a life ...
Re: Secret Knowledge
Of the things I'm interested in, if it was posted without a hashtag, somebody will repost with one.