Tumgik
#esp when your only critiques are “its not the show!!!1!”
antiloreolympus · 2 years
Text
10 Anti LO Asks
(Note: All of these asks are before episode 206 (Season 2 finale) so some may be dated.) 1. LMAO there are literal myths from 2k+ years ago of mythology being pro breast feeding?? like there's a myth of Hera being so pro-breastfeeding she doesn't even flinch at the idea of feeding some random baby (Heracles) that Athena was holding who was being fussy. The nymphs are also called "nurses" to various deities and their kids, which including breastfeeding them. why do LO fans act like she's invented everything thats been common place for centuries at this point?
2. The gay representation in this is so bad that I forget about Athena and Hestia being LOVERS. I only remembered cause a fan mentioned them during an argument about diversity 😂 How ironic 
3. the reason RS doesnt get why her "fertility godess" idea is easily broken apart with even a second of thought it because she has this bizarre view of the world where she thinks a mythology that was fairly fluid in its ideals (esp with sex and gender) is to be like you know whats a good idea, separating EVERYTHING by sex to where it's more conservative than 800 BC. zeus is more of a fertility god than persephone is but god forbid rachel not be gender essentialist about everything in this comic
4. I do love that one panel of Persphone dressed as a Fury bc it was supposed to be her being "badass and sexy" that Hades literally GROANED over it (bleh) and it's like MA'AM she literally looks twelve??? does she know even short people have normal proportions as adults??? anyway jail Hades I hate him
5. I've seen some people critique LO for the colorful gods trope and tbh I don't think it's an issue? I think the issue is more how lazy Rachel is with it. Hercules and OSP put thought into the colors with still unique designs, so the color enhances their designs. meanwhile with LO color is their ONLY design, because there's nothing to tell anyone apart besides color, but even then it fails when all the nymphs are just Persephone with pointy ears, and there is now another Hera clone running around
6. The thing is to me Rachel SHOULD take criticism and fix what she can, but her only solutions to any criticism she does listen to is often just?? stupid?? The "internalized misogyny" and "but capitalism!" bits don't actually fix any issue within the comic and it's more of a virtue signal from Rachel she "hears them" but won't actually do anything and just wants them to shut up. It's also as subtle as the color schemes she uses, which is not at all. She's as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face.
7. I saw someone refer to the LO art as a saccharine "gender-reveal art style" and I laughed so hard that I'm never ever calling it anything else again
8. Isn't Persephone in comic confirmed to have stopped aging at 19? so wouldn't a timeskip not help the age gap? i's not like Hades somehow got younger. idk the specifics but it seems she didn't just stop physically aging at 19, she's also mentally and emotionally stuck at 19 too, so her technically being 30+ now doesn't actually help when she's still going to be 19 forever anyway. anyway RS isn't a very good writer.
9. Ok so either the rest of the season now is RS backtracking to do flashbacks which makes the timeskip a waste of time/random bc why not just go through the day by day style she was doing anyway in that case OR she'll just be like "idk YOU imagine what happened i'm moving ahead" which is so?? lazy??? and a waste of everyone's time?? like dont dick your readers around for almost half a decade with stuff that doesnt matter only to NOT show them over a decade of in story development??
10. ZEUS NUMERO UNO!!!! he's a better king than hades
29 notes · View notes
rielzero · 2 years
Text
Why, Deviantart?
I’ve used the platform for quite few years of my life, but its baffled me and confused me why so many of its essential features are blocked behind a paywall.
The following are free on various other social media:
-Change of username (with a time period block to prevent you from changing it again for a while)
-Profile customization
-Scheduling your posts
-Making folders / extra pages within your account (in DA’s case, gallery folders.)
These are all Core features. Meaning you have to buy a subscription for these.
Some other stuff that peeves me:
-It doesn’t have the ability to Block users from chat messaging you with a ‘’mutuals only’’ or the ability to disable chat messenger entirely; its non existent. The only way to prevent people from messaging you with chat is to block them 100%. Which is annoying. Just because I have +watchers doesn’t mean I want them to contact or bug me in chat messenger. It’s really scary and feels invasive, it’s also hella broken and painful on my eyes. If you don’t mute the messenger, it also pops up while browsing. Maybe its hard to explain, but this is anxiety inducing, esp if you don’t want strangers to direct message you. Notes feel more at a distance.
-The fact that notes have been buried in the back, while they’re still primarily used and preferred by a lot of people. They’re not gone, but the website design makes it seem as if its irrelevant. 
-Promoting of weird new ‘’technology’’ constantly in journals, trying to make themselves look good while the majority of the comments always remains negative on these journals. At some point they should listen to critique.
-They removed paypal from subscription payments, but not from the points store. This makes buying core with paypal super expensive. And you’ll also always be left with extra points you probably will never use.
-They don’t give you the option to make a 1-time off payment for core. They always lock you into that ‘’automatic renewal’’ system, honestly. Allow people to opt out WHILE BUYING. It’s like you’re expecting people to be forgetful, so you can withdraw when the day hits, and force them to go through the trouble to ask for a refund. After you buy core (somehow) you have to go into your settings to disabled automatic renewal. Beats me why they force you to take extra steps.
-Same old ‘’write’’ bugs. I’ve always noticed how sometimes the writing system bugs out when im writing a comment and editting it. The text suddenly pastes in the beginning of the message, or deletes words as I’m writing some extra words in the earlier sentence.
-’’send me a chat message’’ pasted on your profile. Even if you have the thing muted, the website promotes the idea that anyone can direct message you. Any other social media knows how DMs can make people feel. Facebook? Block incoming messages from people not in your friendslist. Twitter? Ability to disable DMs, they won’t show up on your profile! Tumblr? I’m pretty sure you can disable them on tumblr as well.. If tumblr still has DMs?
The only pros currently..
-I kinda like the personal profile design, the header and the font.
-the Dark mode is nicer on my eyes than deviantart green ever was! I have a genetic issue where my eyes are very sensitive to colors. Especially light or bright ones, if there’s not enough contrast it can literally induce headaches.
-The adopt community there seems very stable for me.
-I’m more established there than anyone else. I don’t know how to comfortably use any other platforms.
That’s all I can think of currently.
2 notes · View notes
obserfdom · 5 years
Text
Taylor Swift, A Real Person Inside Celebrity Attire
I wanna have a break for awhile in speculating about Taylor Swift' sexuality/relationship and dedicate this writing solely focusing on her as a person.
Honestly, I've never a big fans of her. Nor to any other celebrities out there. I am always a casual listener to any music. And very seldom I attentively scrutinizing song lyrics. But falling to Kaylors fandom inevitably forced me to dig more about Taylor Swift. I was very much surprise knowing how popular she is, or how successful she is building up an empire of 'devotees'. She is a queen in almost every sense.
But only through knowing how relatable her character is to ourselves as a non celebrity that truly inspiring and gradually takes me to grow a soft-tenderness feeling toward her. And like a teen swiftie, I can't help to echo their praise: "I love you, Taylor Swift!"
Here, I am just going to copy a relatable normal human being version of Taylor's story from many sources - mostly from people with direct interaction with her, the 'normal' people. If one still deducting flaws out of her personality, after reading these kind of testimonials - well it would speak a lot about who the person is rather than being about Taylor Swift.
***
From Rolling Stone:
We’ve been talking for a while when a boat rows up carrying three teenagers – two girls and a guy. “Oh, my God!” says one of the girls. “Today is my birthday! Can I please take a picture with you?” Swift laughs. “You can, but I don’t know how you’re going to. You’re on a boat, buddy!”
“I’ll get off!” the girl says. “I’ll find a way.” Swift and her bodyguard reach out and help her into the pavilion. “You’re going to make me cry!” she says.
“Is it really your birthday?” Swift asks.
“How old are you?”
“Seventeen,” the girl says.
“Oh, that’s a good year.”
“I know. I’m excited.”
The girl says she lives on Long Island. She and her friends took the train in for the day. “That’s cute,” Swift says. “Are you going to dinner somewhere?”
The girl scrunches up her face. “We were going to . . . Chipotle?”
Swift smiles. She goes to her purse and pulls out a wad of cash – $90, to be exact. “Here,” she says. “Go somewhere nice.”
“Oh, my God,” the girl says. “Thank you!” She climbs back in the boat, and she and her friends paddle off.
Note:
$90 may not be a big number for a celeb like Taylor Swift with an estimated worth around 360 million USD. However, that was probably the only cash she had in hand - and Taylor gave it all to the teen girl she barely knew only cause she probably felt that she could contribute to boost this girl's happiness by adding the teen with more fund to spend on her birthday.
This was not only sweet but it genuinely a very grandeur kindnest.
***
"Is Taylor Swift actually a nice person?" - a question made in Quora:
Anonymous answered it, in May 21th 2018
This post has been a long time coming. I am answering this question anonymously for a number of reasons: 1) I do not wish to inadvertently become tabloid fodder; 2) I do not wish to capitalize on Taylor; 3) I enjoy my relatively normal life; and 4) I believe the anonymity is well-deserved on Taylor’s part. Although Taylor may be able to determine who is writing this, I do not believe such information to be of use to the public. I am sure, if she wished, she could write me a letter and reconnect at anytime. That is her choice to make.
Before Taylor hit it big, Taylor and I spent months emailing back and forth on MySpace. We were the same age with similar tastes in music, similar viewpoints on life, and similar, sarcastic senses of humor. We were both trying to make it in music and grow a fan base. We confided in each other. We trusted each other. We had an ongoing, supportive relationship that helped both of us when we sometimes felt there was nowhere else to turn. Few knew of my coversations with her - but some of Taylor’s closest friends did know they were taking place (they called me “the guy on MySpace,” as it is my understanding Taylor did not tell them my name).
The two of us, still in our teens and miles apart, began writing to each other in short messages at first. We would discuss music, school, and random jokes we would make upon the fly. As time went on, the messages (and their topics) went from short and complimentary to in-depth and personal. We would write messages to one another that, if printed, would be multiple pages long. Looking back, these were the messages of two teenagers trying to find themselves and, in the process, found a friend in one another. We never had expectations, just a supportive friendship with a member of the opposite sex we could not seem to find offline. Although our situations and backgrounds were very different, our similarities closed any gap between us.
During our time messaging, Taylor had hit a rough patch in her life. That may be easy to balk at if you see Taylor as a flawless celebrity rather than the caring and thoughtful person that she is - but the struggle she was experiencing at the time was very real and had its toll on her, a teen trying to find her place. I would do my best to encourage her from a distance and support her as the situation unfolded. Taylor did the same for me. The mutual respect and maturity shared with one another was like nothing else I had experienced. As for Taylor, I believe she felt the same.
Then, something happened. I began to emotionally struggle with the loss of a grandparent who had passed in 2002. As a young person, I had buried the pain for years and did not know how to cope. I had little in terms of a support mechanism in my “real” life. But things were just beginning in Taylor’s career. I thought that my burdens would weigh Taylor down. So, rather than turn to Taylor for support or tell her what happened, I did the only thing sixteen year old me knew how to do… I closed myself off, shut down my MySpace page… and tried to grapple with the experience on my own. To this day, I feel guilty about having left her out in the dark. But I still believe I did the right thing. Taylor had a dream we both shared and it was becoming a reality. I was not about to stand in the way by making her worry about her friend. She was too kind and sweet to me. Strapping her with that type of burden would have been unjustifiable. As fast as I had entered it, I was out of Taylor’s life. If she saw me today, it is unlikely she would recognize me as that guy who was playing country songs. That is not the path my life took.
Fast forward to today and I am a highly educated person who has been able to carve my own path in this world. By any measure, I have been successful for my age. If Taylor were not a celebrity, I believe her story would be much the same.
What you see and hear about Taylor does not scratch the surface or come near the reality. The claims about her doing things for publicity, being an uncaring person, or using others are nowhere near an accurate description of the person I grew to know. Taylor is a kind, caring, compassionate person who wants nothing more than to love and be loved. Her acts of charity are not acts of publicity, they are acts of character. She has earned and deserves her career. Knowing her as I did, I cannot help but believe she often longs for normalcy, anonymity, and questions what it would be like if she were simply Taylor to this day - not the celebrity, but another person who lived life without being subjected to the critiques, comments, and ridicule.
I knew Taylor for Taylor, she was wonderful. In the unlikely event she reads this, I apologize for not writing back and hope she understands why I made that decision. I kicked myself for years - not because of the fame she found, but because of the friend I loss.
Taylor, I am proud of how far you have made it in this world.
Note:
Me and approximately 8.3k Quora-ers agreed that this guys story is genuine.
***
Steve Parr - a quora-er, answered this (from the same Quora page):
I’ve met Taylor Swift twice, both while I was working for Taylor Guitars.
The first time was at the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. She was there with her father who BEGGED Bob Taylor to let her play on our performance stage. I think she was about 15 at the time. She was nervous and her songs weren’t great, but she was beaming and very appreciative of the time given her.
The second time was when she held her album release party for Fearless (2008) at the Taylor factory in El Cajon, CA. There was a nationwide contest where two people were flown from each state to San Diego to attend the party, get a meet & greet and attend a private concert for a total of about 250 people. I was heavily involved in photography, so the production company hired me to shoot the meet & greet and the concert.
When she arrived at our factory for that event, she came in through the back of our shipping warehouse. As she walked through, she greeted everyone, giving them a long, solid hug while saying “hello”. Now, some of these guys were hardcore warehouse types who were dirty and sweaty. That didn’t matter to Swift. She didn’t have to do what she did, but she did it. I thought that spoke highly of her character.
So, yeah, she’s really a nice person…
Note:
If you familiar with Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, you probably remember the first few pages about "bus driver" story. This guy spread the joy with his inert kindnest. He was the example of emotional intelligence that Goleman referred to.
Reading the above testimony remind me of the bus driver. If you think Taylor Swift doesn't atleast possess a lil of EI, then I think you need to re-think about how you view the world - and start to trust humanity act of kindnest again.
***
Final thought:
Really I could copy paste dozen of testimonials out there about Taylor Swift. Esp from fans who lucky enough to meet her in person during secret sessions. They are not only being loyal to Taylor because they led by 'blindness' by Taylor's charm - but more because I could see that Taylor had touched their heart with her genuinely nice behaviours. Treating her fans as in the highest value, is one of Taylor's rare quality as human being.
Not to mention, Taylor has been involved in many charitably acts through out the years - a very good role model not only to youth but to all of us in general. I could say that her parents have raised her well and influenced her to continue being grounded.
Oh yes, I am fully aware that Taylor Swift is mere human with all the flaws and far from perfection - and I have no doubt that she awares of it too - nevertheless, if one lacking in appreciation toward others and only focus in finding every lil dirts, as haters would be, well that speaks more about them compare to the object of their rants. That just like one unconsciously noticed their own version of 'elephant in the room', but rather than face it - they cowardly projecting it to other. And public figure, esp a sweet lollipop like Taylor, sadly always an easy target achery.
Xxx
1 note · View note
moonydiego · 7 years
Note
review shinees lucifer album 🐸 (im judging anything below a 9/10 jsyk)
send me an album and i’ll review it
alright SO 2010 kpop, lucifer was arguably shinees break out album (really theyve been the shit since replay with that rookie grand slam, PLUS with ring ding dong as a strong single of the ep Y.O.U.) i personally think this is due to how shinee was branded as actaully fucken amazing at dancing, and the lucifer choreography is honestly something unmatched, especially for the time that it came out.
but honestly for me as how i view things in shinee’s discography timeline, as well as with sales or what not i really think lucifer was that staple that not only was hype af when it came out but its main single “lucifer” still brings people onto shinee to this day so? really iconic album
however, as a long time shinee fan, i really love lucifer mostly nostalgically, like most people the first video i saw from shinee was lucifer, the first album i downloaded was lucifer, i tried learning the vogueing part from lucifer (and i still remember it lmao) so for me lucifer is really? great, mostly because it’s album i listened to when i was super young and kinda brought me onto shinee which in turn brought me to a wider spectrum of music
however, while it may be shinee’s amazing throwback album, looking back on it as a whole it really did not showcase the amazing powerhouse shinee is.
im not talking singing wise, lucifer does showcase amazing vocals but, shinee as a whole has a huge history of being contemporary, of always bringing people that new shit-that good shit-that cutting edge shit. and i think it’s taken them some time to grow into that contemporary mindset, before this mostly imo theyve been contemporary in the terms of style and what not but musically they’ve more or less sat comfortably of what was kinda going on. rather than being on the edge of the trend imo they brought out something that refined the trend to further establish it as the norm-before moving on as the trend changes
(imo shinee breaks out with sherlock as THAT group musically and artistically, that constantly pushes kpop music but thats for another review)
however lucifer is a staple in shinee’s discography and it’s a really nice album for that 2010 nostalgia era, it has cute upbeat songs, the freaking catchy lucifer as well as some gr8 ballads (and electric heart, imo one of the BEST songs shinee’s ever done)
anyway here’s the track by track review lmao:
(disclaimer, vocally shinee’s performances never disappoint (maybe rap wise but never singing wise) this is mostly me critiquing like the actual music and what it brings to the table as a cohesive album so not really shinee but mostly the production team backing them up and sm’s musical choices lmaoooo)
the first track is up and down, it’s classic 2010 kpop era type of song, it’s cute it’s catchy it’s upbeat. the main vocalists voices are strong af and the backing voices are really noice as well, the chorus is extremely catchy and it’s just? a straight forward catchy song. honestly nothing really new, especially with the placements of the raps but? it’s just a sweet listen, maybe a bit too sweet as the years pass, i think ready or not is a better catchy pop-y song imo but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
the next track is lucifer and honestly im gonna give my actual opinion, i dont listen to lucifer anymore sure i love lucifer but honestly i think this is just the perfect throwback song that you’re super hype for but in my opinion i dont listen to on the daily, like its good and it’s just catchy but, it follows that generic verse chorus verse chorus rap chorus. really what brought shinee into the lime light imo was their dancing and lucifer showcased that AMAZINGLY, but songwise it’s pretty? catchy but ?? you feel me??????
next is electric heart and electric heart TO THIS DAY is one of my favorite all time shinee songs. dude shinee has not done this type of song before, and it’s the only time they do this type of song on this album. the vocals are breathy and self assured, the harmonies are fucken angelic, the instrumentals fit their voices perfectly gives a very moody almost? seductive type of vibe that’s really punctuated by their falsettos. fucken A+++ track and honestly it really stands out from the album IMO just because of the way they sing and just how they all work together to make the song work. it’s groovy and sensual and jams when it needs to and just? a great listen all of them work so well in this ugh i love it
then it’s a-yo which i used to love when i was younger, not to repeat myself but the way i feel about this track is how i honestly feel about up and down with the exception that this song isn’t as upbeat, it’s more of a subdued upbeat song, something that in my opinion would fit perfectly in their replay album? i feel like it has that 2008 vibe. anyway yeah. catchy, cute, nothing new but nothing wrong w that
ok then we hit obsession and it’s one of the few shinee songs i actually dont like. i will give them the fact that it’s pretty experimental i guess?? for them??? for this album? the only problem is how out of place it feels, like we have upbeat and catchy then kinda sensual rly nice electric heart and then this? it has a darker tone and it’s? okay i guess i just think they really didn’t go all way that they couldve on this, i feel like theyve really refined the “darker” songs or more desperate sounding songs on the misconception albums. like it’s dark then soft and then you’re hit with jonghyun almost pleading chorus, honestly im not that big of a fan of it, especially with how the beginning and the chorus sound so disjointed on the same song but not in a Cool Experimental way imo, i kno i lot of people like it and if you do please tell me why!! would love to discuss w you all c:
after you’re hit with quasimodo which is a str8 up ballad and it would sound weird to have on an album that has songs like up and down and ready or not but? being placed after obsession was a great choice imo so it doesn’t sound so jarring. this is a complete ballads with fucken amazing vocals but especially the way they all just work together especially on the verses leading up to vocals. imo im not a huge fan of ballads but this is a really beautiful song that’s just, a great soft listen if you like those types of ballads. imo not anything new or groundbreaking but honestly it’s a Typical Ballad song in which jinki kills it so??? not really complaining
ok then it’s shout out which i was….obsessed with and honestly i….never listen to it now. it’s a great, “we’ve gone thru so much shit and here we are bitch we’re back and we dont give up” song i guess. however, in my opinion as a rap song? it’s not really? anything new or anything really?? astounding, imo listening back it’s kinda? i dont wanna say childish but i think like as utilizing “rapping” as a form of conveying music shinee (esp minho and kibum) have really improved on that a lot in their after years, and this is like a last remaining album of kibum and minho rapping the way every kpop group did in 2010 you know? nothing really shinee-like it’s just? idk it really isnt that great listening back and how far theyve come since it (odd eye guys, the rap in odd eye is a perf example because the rap goes along so well with the song itself and it feels like it sits in shinee’s discography as a perfect shinee song rather than A Rap Song They Did) and idk yeah, not a big fan now and i honestly think it’s great to show just how much shinee has grown as a kpop group to actual artists.
next up is wowowow and it’s? another catchy upbeat song but it’s not really with a lot of substance imo, like i feel they really went hard on the autotone like autotune can be used as a really cool device in song producing but i feel like? it’s a bit off putting with jonghyun’s high vocals you know?  it’s catchy but???? it’s just cute that’s it, what are they offering here that the other upbeat songs on this album dont offer? not to bash on it but?? there’s not much to say that i havent already ;A; (it’s still really cute)
your name is next and it’s? a cute slower song. it’s slow but not ballady. it’s like if wowowow was w/o autotune and like a bit more chiller. it’s just a sweet song nothing really???amazing i guess?? the “lalalala” the members do is really nice and i like it towards the end, once minho raps and the song changes a bit, i feel like it’s less generic and a cooler listen, like most songs in this era there’s a slight change towards the end of the song with the first two halves sounding extremely similar. nothing much to say w this one just. it’s cute.
then it’s life, which if i have one thing to say about this album’s lack of a cohesive feel is the fact that they put the slower songs with perfect transitioning songs before them, so listening to the album straight isn’t a jarring experience so honestly??? good on them that was a fab choice. now in my opinion, quasimodo was a better ballad-mostly because all the members really work together backing each other up and it sounds greater orchestrally than this song. life takes nearly two minutes to pick up, now i lov a slow start to get the tension started but really it doesn’t pick of until 1:50 and there isn’t really? anything amazing going on instrumentally to garner attention imo, shinee’s vocals are beautiful but?? u kno???? like most songs the cool shit is towards the end but i feel like it’s just subdued with some great notes belted out. classic ballady song if you like it, but again i think quasimodo really brought it home without sounding like it’s taking a while to get to the good parts you know????
after it’s ready or not. which i know i mentioned having transitining songs from slower to upbeat, which is NOT the case with this. but i FUCKEN lov ready or not. it’s literally like a better version of up and down imo, up and down sounds incredibly repetitive because of the whole rollercoaster ride thing, but this is like a repetitive song that doesnt seem like it’s looping. it has some embarssing 2010 song moments but honestly??? i dont care it’s literally a cute up beat song, generic especially with that kpop formula and the slight change towards the end but honestly thats what shinee was doing at the time, and it was fine. im only being so hard on this album because shinee Really Fucking Worked on their music and really went like beyond everything to become the shinee we know and love and appreciate today. so yeah. generic cute pop song that i still jam to but dont listen to often.
then it’s love pain, which i mean? it’s like a more hurt ayo lmao. like in the way it’s sung and it’s feel, the subject matter can be totally different. anyway not much to say just like…this album is so 2010 and this song really captures that like idk not much critique on this, i dont love it anymore but? vocals are gr8 and it’s a cool slow song
the album finishes with love still goes on, which is i think an AMAZING reference to the song love should off their first album. it’s a nod to the past while showing off how theyve grown and how theyve improved their vocals. the problem i have with this song is literally the same with ready or not with a dash of side eye at the raps but honestly?? it’s cute its happening and i just think the nod to their first album was a cute way to finish the album. it doesnt finish with a band but rather with a thanks, and i think that was really lovely
anyway my final review is: nostalgia/10 (with me mostly only listening to electric heart, ready or not, love still goes on and up and down)
but again this was me really just? giving a thorough critique lmao i still really lov this album, i own it (a ver AND b ver) and honestly if i ever see shinee live and they do any song off this album you will catch me wiping the tears from my eyes while belting out the lyrics. hyped as fuck. i kno this album like the back of my hand istgggggg i really do love this album, it’s just musically we all kno shinee is that group, but it’s super cool looking at their progression as artists and how theyve moved along musically!!
8 notes · View notes
jackson38toh · 7 years
Text
Run the gambut?
Q: I keep hearing “gambit” misused, as in “run the gambit,” which doesn’t make sense. What’s the deal with people confusing these two words?
A: Yes, “run the gambit” is on the loose, but “run the gamut” is much more popular in the Corpus of Contemporary American English, the British National Corpus, and News on the Web, a database from online newspapers and magazines.
The original idiomatic expression, “run the gamut,” which means to extend over an entire range, showed up in English nearly three centuries ago.
The earliest citation in the Oxford English Dictionary is from The Courtier, Robert Samber’s 1724 translation of a 16th-century etiquette book by the Italian writer Baldassare Castiglione:
“When they talk with any one, after a Pause, [they] renew their Discourse in such a Tone as if they were running over the Gamut.”
The next example is from Flim-Flams! (1805), a novel by Isaac D’Israeli, father of the British statesman Benjamin Disraeli:
“He runs through the whole gamut of the heart, from bass to treble.”
Those two early citations reflect the musical origins of the expression. As an etymology note at Merriam-Webster Online explains, the term comes from a musical scale developed in the 11th century by the musician and monk Guido d’Arezzo:
“Guido called the first line of his bass staff gamma and the first note in his scale ut, which meant that gamma ut was the term for a note written on the first staff line. In time, gamma ut underwent a shortening to gamut but climbed the scale of meaning. It expanded to cover all the notes of Guido’s scale, then all the notes in the range of an instrument, and, eventually, an entire range of any sort.”
The first English example for the noun “gamut” in the OED is from a treatise on counterpoint, written sometime before 1445, by the English composer Lionel Power:
“Gamut hathe 3 acordis: re, mi, sol be proprechaunt; re a 12, mi a 13, sol a 15.”
The dictionary notes that “run the gamut” has the rare musical sense of to “perform all the notes of the scale, or all the notes within the compass of a particular singer or instrument,” but adds that the usual, more expansive meaning of the expression is “to experience, display, or perform the complete range of something.”
When the word “gambit” showed up in English in the 17th century, according to the OED, it referred in chess to “a game, or sequence of moves, involving a sacrifice to launch an attack or gain some other advantage.”
When used in chess now, the dictionary says, the term usually refers to “an opening in which a player offers a sacrifice, typically of a pawn, for the sake of a compensating advantage.”
The earliest citation in the dictionary is from The Royall Game of Chesse-Play, Francis Beale’s 1656 translation of a work by the Italian chess writer Gioachino Greco: “Illustrated with almost an hundred Gambetts.”
In the mid-19th century, Oxford says, the term “gambit” took on two expanded senses: (1) a “remark intended to initiate or change the direction of a conversation” and (2) a “plan, stratagem, or ploy that is calculated to gain an advantage, esp. at the outset of a contest, negotiation, etc.”
The dictionary’s earliest citation for the first sense is from the Jan. 1, 1853, issue of Punch: “Would you think I … played Knight’s gambit, or rather opening, if I ventured the colloquial critique—‘very fine oysters!’ ”
The earliest example for the second sense is from Memoirs of the Court and Cabinet of George III (1855), by the Duke of Buckingham:
“The dashing gambit which his opponent directed, was neither evaded with caution nor defended with skill.”
As for “run the gambit,” the misuse has been around for dozens of years. The earliest example we’ve found is from Fuad: King of Egypt, a 1936 biography by the Indian author Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah:
“Zaghlul was the popular idol, and anyone who was even faintly critical of his activities must perforce run the gambit of mob disapproval.”
And here’s a double whammy from the official record of an April 1, 1959, hearing about freight car shortages, held by a US Senate subcommittee in Kansas City, Kansas:
“All the cars that go out to my district, the main industry of which is lumber, have to run the gambit in California, or they have to run the gambit in Washington.” (The speaker, Rep. Charles O. Porter, an Oregon Democrat, addressed the Freight Car Shortage Subcommittee of the Senate Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee.)
This excerpt from a 1947 book in the Foreign Relations of the United States series, the State Department’s official record of major American foreign policy decisions, describes Soviet policies toward the West:
“The zigs and zags have run the gambit from out and out revolutionary hostility to the Popular Front with Social Democrats during the 30’s, the pact with Hitler, Big Power unity, parliamentary ‘cooperation’ and now back to anti-parliamentary, anti-imperialist revolutionary hostility and noncooperation.”
We’ve found hundreds of more recent examples for “run the gambit,” including these:
“Food offerings run the gambit from Wisconsin classics like cheese curds and pretzel sticks to salmon and sirloin” (from the Aug 10, 2017, issue of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).
“Let’s run the gambit of possible outcomes, which not surprisingly range from ‘everyone dies’ to “everyone dies’ ” (from a Jan. 20, 2017, item on Huffington Post).
“They also run the gambit as far as really good guys” (from a May 23, 2016, post on the website of Entertainment Weekly).
“Villa options run the gambit from deluxe pads to rustic fincas” (from the July, 18, 2015, issue of the Guardian).
“Wedding flowers are an expression of individual taste and run the gambit from lush exotics to simple handmade arrangements” (from the Feb. 15, 2015, Hartford Courant).
“The Forest Service has closed 886,000 acres of forests to the public because of the infiltration of pot growers, who run the gambit from ‘flower children” caught in a ’60s time warp to dangerous organized criminals” (from the Nov. 2, 1988, Christian Science Monitor).
Garner’s Modern English Usage (4th ed.) says, “Misusing gambit for gamut is an increasingly common malapropism,” but Bryan A. Garner, the author, lists it at only the lowest stage in his five-stage language-change index.
The term “malapropism” refers to the unintentionally comic misuse of a word, especially by confusing it with a similar-sounding one. The misuse of “gambit” for “gamut” may also be called an “eggcorn,” mistaking a word or phrase for a similar-sounding one.
In Origins of the Specious, our book about language myths and misunderstandings, we discuss malapropisms and eggcorns, as well as spoonerisms and mondegreens, two other kinds of language bloopers. A 2011 post on our blog includes an excerpt from Origins about such misuses.
A 2005 entry by the linguist Ben Zimmer on the Eggcorn Database cites “run the gambit” and includes several more examples.
The database also has a 2005 contribution by the linguist Arnold Zwicky on the variation “run the gamete.” A “gamete” (1878) is a male or female reproductive cell.
Interestingly, “run the gamete” is almost as popular as “run the gambit” in general online searches, and one of the examples we’ve found even uses the expression correctly:
“Hotels run the gamete” is a Nov. 3, 2005, headline in USA Today about Caribbean procreation vacations that include romantic dinners, spa treatments, and island potions said to increase the chances of a pregnancy.
Finally, here’s a comment about “run the gambit” from The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style:
“As is often the case with idioms, the original meanings of the words composing them can be lost, obscured, or confused. In this case, the uncommon word gamut is sometimes confused with the word gambit.”
Although the term “gambit” has expanded significantly from its original chess usage, American Heritage concludes, “the phrase run the gambit is a mistake.” We’ll add that “run the gamete” is too, despite that procreative exception.
Help support the Grammarphobia Blog with your donation. And check out our books about the English language.
from Blog – Grammarphobia https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2017/09/gambut.html
0 notes