This might sound noobish, but I have no idea what people mean when they say it. Can anyone help a newbie out?
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#3
Romy
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- 4876 posts
Neocodex Elite Four Member
Posted 05 April 2013 - 05:32 PM
This might sound noobish, but I have no idea what people mean when they say it. Can anyone help a newbie out?
#5
luvsmyncis
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I have no friends.
Posted 05 April 2013 - 05:36 PM
From Wikipedia:
Many people who edit Wikipedia do so because they enjoy writing. However, that passion for writing can influence what they write to be longer than necessary. Sometimes, this is because the writer incorrectly believes that long sentences and big words will make them appear learned.[3] In other cases, misplaced pride prevents the author from seeing that not every word in their golden prose is necessary. Perhaps the author may be too hurried (or lazy) to write clearly and concisely; recall Pascal's famous quote, "I made this so long because I did not have time to make it shorter." While a genius like Pascal may have been justified in that balancing of priorities (just as neurosurgeons may not spend time doing the hospital landscaping), the rest of us must do our share of the work. In a related vein, administrator candidates may be judged merely by how much they have written, versus the much more subjective value of their contributions.
Due to these factors, many articles, instructions and especially comments on Wikipedia are longer than necessary. Some of Wikipedia's core policies are considered by some to be too long (e.g. Creative Commons license). This may be considered to put too much burden on the readers to understand. Such problems can be seen elsewhere.[4]
Writers often begin a project by writing long-winded drafts. As they go through the iterative process of revising their work, they (should) come to a better understanding of what they're trying to communicate and be able to reduce the length of the work. If this process is stopped prematurely, the result is needlessly long (as shown by Pascal's quote). Writers may err towards wordiness out of concern that short prose which is not carefully edited (at high time cost) would oversimplify, to the point of distorting or omitting, or carry a higher risk of being misunderstood.
Albert Einstein described the work of theorists as making theory as simple as possible, without failing to explain all empirical cases. His remark is often paraphrased as "everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." Much argument between individuals results from one trying to point out the ways in which another's model of reality is incomplete. Thus the concept that Einstein mentioned may spur lengthy exposition, often to account for the corner cases.
A venerable aphorism is that "brevity is the soul of wit."[5] A similar sentiment advises would-be skilled writers to "omit needless words."[6] Editors are encouraged to write concisely, and avoid undue technical jargon. If it becomes necessary to write lengthy text in an article, editors may wish to include a short summary. Additionally, it may be appropriate to use simple vocabulary to aid readers in comprehension. Many readers may not use English as a primary language or may have other "unarticulated needs".[7]
Needless length may be interpreted as a mark of arrogance. The message to the reader seems to be, "My time is more valuable than yours. I can't be bothered to express myself clearly and concisely, so I'm shifting the burden to you to sift my words." Some people are constitutionally more loquacious than others, and thus may not be arrogant so much as miscalibrated. Still, the loquacious must force themselves to see things through the eyes of readers, and push beyond their own comfort level — what they themselves think is already clear — to arrive at greater clarity. Taking the time to distill your thoughts not only helps you communicate more effectively, but also builds rapport with your readers.
The phrase WP:Walls of text is frequently used to describe overlong, unformatted contributions.
There are many internet abbreviations commonly used such as "LOL" or "OMG" or "STFU". tl;dr is one of these terms, often used in response to an article or response that is way too long. It stands for "Too long; didn't read", and is usually a somewhat rude response. Whenever someone replies to you "tl;dr" it means either you talk too fuckin' much or simply that they are a douchebag. 
If you are curious about something, I strongly recommend GOOGLE.COM. In the search bar, you can type in anything you are curious about, and all kinds of websites come up in reference to what you're looking for, whether it be "blue waffle", "grumpy cat", or "Lou Pearlman." You can also find images that are quite helpful.
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