...a likely lad who helps us slash and burn our way out of the grammatical undergrowth that makes most linguistic interchanges a source of confusion and paradox.
"I've just noticed that my views on mockery seem paradoxical.
Inclusive mockery is the source of comedy. Satire and sarcasm are linked to sadistic behaviour and while useful as a temporary tactic in exteme circumstances, I tend to avoid people who use both and who develop it as a character trait."
I had frightful trouble with "people" in the last sentence and botched a comment by changing the governance of the verbs in a very untidy and abstract way.
I don't much like abstract writing and this mare's nest of a sentence might help explain why I find "Democracy in America" by Alexis de Tocqueville so tiring. Apart from the questionable nature of the topic (is there Democracy in America?) Tocqueville's language is pure legalise at the best of times and reads like a charter.
I often think that writing is like woodwork.
The polishing is never done...
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