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Chet Raymo, “tl;dr”

Friday, April 14, 2017 15:33

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“tl;dr”

by Chet Raymo

“When I was invited to write a weekly column for the Boston Globe (the original Science Musings) those many years ago, I thought it took at least a thousand words to say anything that anyone would want to read. A gripping lead. Statement of theme. Development of theme. Recapitulation of theme and catchy exit. A thousand words were about right. I was paid by the column, not the word count. As the years passed, I learned that brevity is the soul of wit, and the column slowly shrank. 900 words. 800. After all, he who coined the phrase stands as the greatest wit of all:

Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,

And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,

I will be brief: your noble son is mad.

So away with those outward flourishes. 700. 600? After twenty years and a thousand essays, the Globe column was in danger of shrinking away to nothing. Then to the internet, where the pressure toward brevity is relentless. tl;dr.

“Too long; didn’t read.”

Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,

And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,

I will limit myself to 140 characters.

Thank you, Lord Polonious. We need not nuance, nor context. My noble son is mad. I get it. Let me retweet that. #progeny. My noble son is mad. So what is the ideal length for a post in the blogosphere? Nuance and context vs. tl;dr? I seem to have settled in at around 300-400 words, somewhere between prolixity and a tweet.”

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

Source: http://coyoteprime-runningcauseicantfly.blogspot.com/2017/04/chet-raymo-tldr.html

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