I've looked forward Oblivion. And I've foretasted Gothic 3. Oblivion disappointed me. And now I read first reviews of new Gothic. I can say the only thing: its estimates are notably lower than Oblivion's. I'll better wait for some great patches.
I've written on cliches and comparisons recently and now I get a nice connection of these things. Here is the article, where cliches are called "dead metaphors". It's pretty nice, eh?
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I thought of writing a post about greatest hoaxes but discovered that this theme is widely covered at http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/
And so I decided to tell you a little about clichés. Cliché is a trite, hackneyed, stereotype or overused expression. Every life sphere has its own clichés. It’s better to avoid them speaking or writing, didn’t you know? :) By the way I’ve just used one. The phrase “life sphere” sounds pretty but is so trite.
Suppose that most often we come across clichés on the news. Here are some groaners with comments from http://www.newswriting.com/groaners.htm
Slain – Dragons are slain. People are killed.
Hospitalized – Bathrooms get sanitized. Shirts get Martinized. People do not get hospitalized. They’re in the hospital.
Area Residents - “Shhh, Tommy, don’t play the drums so loud, you’ll wake the area residents!” Normal people don’t refer to their neighbors this way. Why should we?
Blog http://tommangan.net/banned/ is devoted to groaners too and it is remarkable for its epigraph:
“Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.”
George Orwell
Movie clichés are the objects of ridicule for a long time. For example, no matter how dead you think you've killed a bad guy, he can still get up at least 3 more times. You can find villains, cars, alcohol, wars, asteroids, aliens and other movie stereotypes at http://www.moviecliches.com/
Phrases “someone once said... [followed by an obscure quotation]”, ”24/7”, “...just doing my job” are common life clichés. See some more at http://hypocrisytoday.com/cliches.html
Worth1000.com photoshop contests also have some overused entries: Britney Spears, George Bush, Statue of Liberty, Star Wars and terrorist references. Read FAQ section http://www.worth1000.com/faq.asp#3 for more information. I'd add Lord of the Rings references to this list.
It’s not hard to find collections of different areas clichés (try to search Google “RPG clichés” or “music videos clichés”).
Finally one more time: filter your speech and texts, don’t use hackneyed expressions and your image will be more attractive :)
Tags: cliche - movie cliches - RPG cliches - news cliches - cliches - common cliches - expressions - phrases - cliche list - popular cliche
Your posts will look better if you use vivid comparisons.
Here is a remarkable quote from “The Invisible Man” by Wells:
“His feet, save for socks of irregular open-work, were bare, his big toes were broad, and pricked like the ears of a watchful dog.”
“Big toes are ears of a watchful dog” is a smart parallel.
Kipling wrote in his “Puck of Pook's Hill”:
“Then he showed us how to hunt wolves and those great red deer with horns like Jewish candlesticks.”
This unexpected turn makes me imagine a deer with Jewish candlesticks instead of horns. And maybe it’s a good idea for some photoshop.
I remember one great comparison from Marc Chagall’s “My life”. He described a hut as a potato wetted in a pickle. It’s quite marginal, isn’t it?
So I offer you to comment this post using some your great comparisons. It may be a good exercise if you are thinking of how to improve your writing style.
And here is one more thing. I’ve an idea of making a series of such exercises in this blog. So, you’re welcome.
Tags: writing - writing exercises - exercises - creativity - write - books - tips - writing tips - quotes - comparisons
4. I noticed that about 15% of my bookmarks concerning me in person. Mean sometimes I save links to outstanding discussions where I’ve participated, to sites where I’ve done something. And also I’ve bookmarked my accounts at last.fm, flickr.com, plime.com and so on.
So in theory involving people in your blog processes, asking them to do something engaging for your site stimulate visitors to bookmark. Readers may get your RSS feeds, and maybe it’s even better, than bookmarking.
5. Everybody has some just cool links. For example it can be web comics’ page.
If you’ve managed to do something great, and somebody except you admits it, try to reflect it in your blog. You may find some unexpected associate. Well, if you’ve really done cool thing, you’re lucky :) My compliments
You’ve noticed for sure that I haven’t too much shocking facts about bookmarking. But here’s short conclusion. If you follow it you’ll have some more chances to be bookmarked.
1. Arrange useful reference lists.
2. Post concrete and particularized stuff.
3. Keep your blog carefully.
4. Involve visitors in discussions and contests.
5. Write cool :)
Tags: bookmark - bookmarking - research - conclusion - analysis - analyse - browser - involve - cool - stuff
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