How is this writing dangerous? I’ve only perused it, but it doesn’t seem dangerous or even terribly interesting. Because what I’ve read isn’t interesting, I’m inclined not to read further. Ironically, the claim that it is somehow dangerous is the only thing that would likely get someone to look at a silly-sounding overwrought work like this.
Also, I think it’s great that the guy starts off with a big grandiose prediction that his work will be repressed. It’s a genuinely nice thing to be able to start calibrating the accuracy of someone’s claims so early. : )
For someone who claims to have uncovered ultimate hidden truths about the nature of mankind, he seems to have missed the obvious non-hidden truth that people aren’t going to bother to read a 2,000 page web document written by a crazy person.
I don’t bow to your elitist “authorities on usage”. Our forces have already gained a foothold in wiktionary. How long can your precious Oxford English Dictionary last?
I know I’m responding seriously to a joke, but as a huge OED fanboy, I feel I must point out that they are exceptionally broad and non-elitist in deciding what words and usages to include, and, although they point out what usages are considered nonstandard or neologistic, they never pretend to be legislators of language.
So to me, skim means to start at the beginning and go through pages looking for words or phrases that are noteworthy in order to glean the general meaning of the text. Peruse, to me, connotes something more exploratory, more open-ended. You can start anywhere and if you see something interesting you may read it closely. You’re not looking to get the general thesis but just sort of seeing what is there. Skimming is the equivalent of an artist looking at a scene and trying to sketch the general outlines and shapes she sees. Perusing is the equivalent of an artist looking at a scene, maybe finding something she likes and drawing that, and then maybe move on to another part of the scene and sketch that instead; she moves around in no particular order- just noticing things about the scene.
How is this writing dangerous? I’ve only perused it, but it doesn’t seem dangerous or even terribly interesting. Because what I’ve read isn’t interesting, I’m inclined not to read further. Ironically, the claim that it is somehow dangerous is the only thing that would likely get someone to look at a silly-sounding overwrought work like this.
Also, I think it’s great that the guy starts off with a big grandiose prediction that his work will be repressed. It’s a genuinely nice thing to be able to start calibrating the accuracy of someone’s claims so early. : )
For someone who claims to have uncovered ultimate hidden truths about the nature of mankind, he seems to have missed the obvious non-hidden truth that people aren’t going to bother to read a 2,000 page web document written by a crazy person.
AIEEEEEEE
*bursts into flames*
I don’t bow to your elitist “authorities on usage”. Our forces have already gained a foothold in wiktionary. How long can your precious Oxford English Dictionary last?
BWAHAHAHA!
I know I’m responding seriously to a joke, but as a huge OED fanboy, I feel I must point out that they are exceptionally broad and non-elitist in deciding what words and usages to include, and, although they point out what usages are considered nonstandard or neologistic, they never pretend to be legislators of language.
(And yes, it includes that sense of “peruse”!)
I actually like this (mis)use of peruse on anti-synonym grounds. There isn’t really another word that means peruse in the way knb uses it here.
Skim?
So to me, skim means to start at the beginning and go through pages looking for words or phrases that are noteworthy in order to glean the general meaning of the text. Peruse, to me, connotes something more exploratory, more open-ended. You can start anywhere and if you see something interesting you may read it closely. You’re not looking to get the general thesis but just sort of seeing what is there. Skimming is the equivalent of an artist looking at a scene and trying to sketch the general outlines and shapes she sees. Perusing is the equivalent of an artist looking at a scene, maybe finding something she likes and drawing that, and then maybe move on to another part of the scene and sketch that instead; she moves around in no particular order- just noticing things about the scene.
But maybe that connotation isn’t universal.
Skim?