"the apocryphal HDAS III"

[Sam Clements]

I think I stand corrected.

But, I personally doubt that Sturgeon had in mind that 90% of everything
written is crud, even thought he said it.    He may have.  I don't know.

Sam Clements
----- Original Message -----
From: "Garson O'Toole" <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2010 23:35
Subject: Re: "the apocryphal HDAS III"


> The YBQ entry is readable by following the link below:
>
> The version stating that "Ninety percent of everything is crud"
> appeared in March 1958 in Venture Science Fiction. Other versions are
> described including one that begins "Ninety percent of science fiction
> is crud. But then ninety percent of everything is crud, and ..."
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=w5-GR-qtgXsC&q=crud#v=snippet&
>
> Garson
>
> On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 11:24 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail
>> header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: "the apocryphal HDAS III"
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> At 11:12 PM -0400 8/4/10, Sam Clements wrote:
>>>What Sturgeon actually said, accordint to Fred Shapiro's wonderful,
>>>ground-breaking tome, is
>>>
>>>"Ninety percent of Science Fiction is Crud."
>>
>> But isn't that just a concession that leads up to the punchline which
>> is indeed "Ninety percent of everything is crud" (standing in for
>> "crap")?
>>
>> LH
>>
>>>Extrapolations invited.
>>>
>>>Sam Clements
>>>
>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>From: "Mark Mandel" <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
>>>To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2010 23:06
>>>Subject: Re: "the apocryphal HDAS III"
>>>
>>>>Sturgeon's Law: 98% of everything is crap.
>>>>
>>>>m a m
>>>>
>>>>On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 9:23 PM, Alice Faber <faber at haskins.yale.edu>
>>>>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>On 8/3/10 6:27 PM, Dave Wilton wrote:
>>>>>>  There may be a sample bias here.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  An American is more likely to encounter an English writer who makes
>>>>>>  their
>>>>>living off writing--novelists, essayists, etc., but will typically
>>>>>encounter
>>>>>a much broader range of American writers, including business people,
>>>>>doctors, lawyers, politicians, etc. Creative and witty writing is not
>>>>>necessarily rewarded in these other field. (Nor should it be,
>>>>>especially;
>>>>>I'd rather have an ironclad contract written in impenetrable jargon
>>>>>than
>>>>>one
>>>>>with clauses of dubious legality that is a wonder to read).
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  As to my experience in negotiations, I'd give my American colleagues
>>>>>higher marks for wit, creativity, nonconformity, and argumentation any
>>>>>day.
>>>>>But then I only dealt with a single British diplomat on a regular
>>>>>basis,
>>>>>so
>>>>>I wouldn't judge the entire British diplomatic corps on that one
>>>>>example.
>>>>>(I'm not saying he wasn't competent, just not a sterling example of
>>>>>rhetorical and literary expertise.) Plus, I knew a bunch of zeroes on
>>>>>the
>>>>>American side, too--including one who, in a very late night of
>>>>>negotiations
>>>>>lost it and called the Israeli delegate a "liar." (Not the most shining
>>>>>moment of American diplomacy.)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>Indeed. Back in the 80s, PBS stations in the US regularly aired various
>>>>>British sitcoms. These were much wittier than the comparable American
>>>>>comedies. In the winter of 1985 (or so), I went to England for a
>>>>>conference at Oxford. One of the things I was looking forward to was a
>>>>>chance to see more British sitcoms. Well...then I saw the ones that PBS
>>>>>hadn't picked up...All I can say is ouch.
>>>>>--
>>>>>========================================================================
>>>>>Alice Faber
>>>>>faber at haskins.yale.edu
>>>>>Haskins Laboratories                            tel: (203) 865-6163
>>>>>x258
>>>>>New Haven, CT 06511 USA                               fax (203)
>>>>>865-8963
>>>>>
>>>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
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