Why do you want to excise "I"?
cause, Deb. If we take "I" out of the equation it makes us noble and keeps us from being self serving. That's what we're supposed to be, right?
Have you ever heard the expression "radical chic"? I can get all the hard answers in the NYT puzzle and can't get the simple ones.
Hmmmmmm - very interesting....
Hey, Aussie,
Now there you go humming. Rabbits can't carry a tune, so get back in that warren and practice.
I still have located the origin of "pushing the envelope". Guess I'd better withdraw into my shell and stay conched out...
er, that should be have NOT
Using passive voices to excise "I" and having to push the "submit" button are beginning to make me a little uncomfortable.
Let's get back to the fetishes. This is getting interesting.
You sure it's not spelled "dyscord?"
c.i.
I HATE the passive voice!!!!
I used to be told to use it in psychology and later in report writing.
I think it is a lousy, tricksical, and dishonest cop out, attempting to make subjective assessments sound objective, and to ape the language of the "hard" sciences - which not infrequently use it to attempt to disguise subjectivity, too.
As language, I think it sounds bloody awful, too.
I always refused to use it in reports, and still do.
I guess I wasn't very passive just then....
I think that I shall never use the passive voice again. That having been said, I will get some coffee and join Diane in clamoring for more fetishes
it is the opinion of the writer that the passive voice shall never be used again by her - she shall turn to fetishes instead.
And yet, dlowan, I think the passive voice serves an important function. If we can't sometimes let things happen, or acknowledge that there are some experiences outside of our control, we will the chance of fully loving. I've always felt the way you do about this. It's as if I thought I could somehow deny the reality of loss or of enjoyment of sometimes being acted upon. Receptivity can be a rewarding human function. And is in fact a reality for everyone, male and female.
Indeed Lola - I agree with that - I spoke of writing - and especially, in my thinking, of academic/research/assessment writing.
My fetish antenna has been waving....you folks here seen any about?
Rabbit, you do my antenna grave insult.
We can talk about it either way. acted on/acting or objective/subjective. It's still the same question. The passive voice can be useful in report writing to emphasize a point or to be more objective than subjective. My point is that it's not an either/or, but rather a matter of emphasis. In my work, I'm trying to be more objective than subjective. Recognizing of course that complete objectivity is only possible in theory. But I can treat a patient's feelings and thoughts, more objectively than I would want to do when having lunch with a friend. The same is true in debate. Any situation in which more objectivity than subjectivity is desirable may lend itself to the use of the passive voice. A therapist could never make use of the transference, for instance, without some attempt at objectivity. If I took everything my patients said to me personally, I'd be out of business. I think I was responding to your statement above, that you feel the use of the passive voice is "tricksical" that caught my attention.
I don't like using it either. It's often awkward, and as you say, sounds awful. But when there's a need to deemphasize the "I" and focus on the "it," the passive voice is sometimes useful. I wouldn't want to try to function without it. It's a small point, but still one I thought was interesting.
Now, Blatham, about that fetish..............
