Modern Rhetoric
An expression that has long annoyed me is "one-dimensional." It's an obvious intensifier of "two-dimensional," but I don't think it a very good one. "Two-dimensional" makes sense, conveying flatness and cartoon unreality. Subtracting a dimension for emphasis is essentially witless; one might as well trump the lot by saying "no-dimensional."
Yet everyone says it.
I'm not going to set up shop here as a language grouse, an unlovely breed associated with aging crabbiness and reactionary resentment. But not every figurative expression that catches on deserves to.
Yet everyone says it.
I'm not going to set up shop here as a language grouse, an unlovely breed associated with aging crabbiness and reactionary resentment. But not every figurative expression that catches on deserves to.
posted by Gregory Feeley at 5:25 AM
3 Comments:
So you're saying "one-dimensional" is not all that and a cherry on top?
---L.
I pledge not to say "one-dimensional." When I come to think of it, I don't generally say it, so it's no great effort, but I like to think I'm making a stand of sorts.
One-dimensional makes perfect sense to me. It not only lacks depth, but breadth as well, attaining a height only in the solipsistic view of its purveyor.
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