“Nothing left to take away,” if it doesn’t imply that perfection is the absence of anything at all, contains an implicit “without causing disfunctionality or other problems.” “”i c wat u dd thar” is arguably not even an English sentence. It’s also arguably an aesthetic affront (as is the at first accidental alliteration).
I agree with what you’re saying in general, but I’m compelled to point out that, in some specific cases, “i c wat u dd thar” would actually be preferable. For example, such cases include—just off the top of my head -- humor, parody, satire, and characterization (in a fictional narrative).
ADBOC. Well, if you have something against textspeak (or txtspk, compare newspeak) how about acronyms, such as ‘laser’? The analogy seems to hold: as long as you agree beforehand on their meaning—as, indeed, must be done with all words—the brevity would be a virtue. Though, I suppose, YMMV.
It’s also arguably an aesthetic affront (as is the at first accidental alliteration).
Agree with the first, strongly disagree with the second.
“Perfection isn’t when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Repeat.
http://lesswrong.com/lw/mx/rationality_quotes_3/
Also really badly needs to be applied to itself. So many words!
I disagree. The symmetry of the “nothing left to add / nothing left to take away” phrasing is important to the poetry of the phrase. That matters.
Warrigal previously suggested “Perfection is lack of excess.”
Perfection is efficiency.
Perfection’s fast.
I think “fast” is qualitatively different from “efficient” to the point where the meaning is lost. OTOH,
”Perfection’s efficient.”
The problem with this notion: which is more perfect, “i c wat u dd thar” or “I see what you did there”?
“Nothing left to take away,” if it doesn’t imply that perfection is the absence of anything at all, contains an implicit “without causing disfunctionality or other problems.” “”i c wat u dd thar” is arguably not even an English sentence. It’s also arguably an aesthetic affront (as is the at first accidental alliteration).
I agree with what you’re saying in general, but I’m compelled to point out that, in some specific cases, “i c wat u dd thar” would actually be preferable. For example, such cases include—just off the top of my head -- humor, parody, satire, and characterization (in a fictional narrative).
True. In those cases, i c wat u dd thar” is fully functional, more so than “I see what you did there.”
ADBOC. Well, if you have something against textspeak (or txtspk, compare newspeak) how about acronyms, such as ‘laser’? The analogy seems to hold: as long as you agree beforehand on their meaning—as, indeed, must be done with all words—the brevity would be a virtue. Though, I suppose, YMMV.
Agree with the first, strongly disagree with the second.