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Dissociation and the Art of the Cliche.

Scathing Online Schoolmarm will leave to a psychiatrist the close analysis of this language.

Preliminarily, however, what strikes one is the linkage between the moribund verbal formulations throughout, and the inability / unwillingness to grasp reality. Note the final sentence. Note the recommendation of John Calipari as a role model.

SOS attaches to this post a warning: Reading this opinion piece from start to finish is not for everyone. There will be people who cannot continue with it all the way to the end. We recall what Freud told us:

No one who, like me, conjures up the most evil of those half-tamed demons that inhabit the human beast, and seeks to wrestle with them, can expect to come through the struggle unscathed.

Scathing Online Schoolmarm has wrestled with these demons for years.

She’s not denying that this piece of writing, and writing like it, scathes the scather. But she’s compelled to struggle with it.

What SOS is saying is that if you have no pressing need to go there, you shouldn’t feel bad if you decide to stay away.

Margaret Soltan, September 15, 2009 8:26AM
Posted in: Scathing Online Schoolmarm

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10 Responses to “Dissociation and the Art of the Cliche.”

  1. Eric the Read Says:

    I got as far as the headline before I needed a breather. Time for some tea, methinks, before I venture further.

  2. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Take it one step at a time, Eric.

  3. Dave Stone Says:

    I’m torn–is this actually a put-on? What makes me wonder is the exit line:

    "May you reach the summit quickly, and may your bounce back be a high one."

    Naturally, a mixed metaphor, but that’s just the start. Gillespie is moving up, and THEN bouncing. Usually you bounce after DOWNWARD motion, at least in my experience.

    But the thing that makes me wonder if it’s a gag is the combination of climbing to the top of the mountain, and then bouncing. It’s like hang-gliding, then flying free. It’s like sailing solo around the world, then swimming with the sharks. It’s like flying to the moon, and exploding onto the scene.

  4. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Isn’t it also like bungee-jumping, Dave?

  5. Dave Stone Says:

    Yes! Like bungee-jumping, and slipping free of the bonds that hold you!

  6. Eric the Read Says:

    More sloppy writing alert: the headline promises a "Freeway to Perdition", but the article instead gives us a "Highway to Perdition". Well, which is it? Enquiring minds want to know!

    (Given that we’re talking the University of Kentucky, nobody there says "Freeway", unless they’re damnyankees.)

  7. theprofessor Says:

    I really believe that you should review Calipari’s book for us, UD.

  8. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Does that mean reading it, tp?

  9. theprofessor Says:

    I have a feeling that SOS could intuit the contents and take it down with a light skim, UD.

  10. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Right, tp. Maybe I’ll do it. Let Annmarie Surprenant be my model…

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