what's worse... when three of the medieval lit papers in a second-year course refer to people from the middle ages as "middle aged people," or when two of them refer to the Trinity as "the Trilogy?"
Neither need be completely incorrect. As far as the "middle aged people" goes, there is nothing to say that they weren't simply talking about middle-aged people in the middle ages. And the fact that they were in the Middle Ages did not need to be expressed because it was to be assumed in a medieval lit class. As for the second, it is simply a depiction of the trinity in subordinationist language (eg. the Arian heresy), one following the other following the other.
It's hard to say. They both indicate a failure to proofread.
I think the former is probably slightly worse. The "Trilogy" thing could possibly be explained as a brain-fart, just one of those instances where someone (a Star Wars or LotR fan?) uses the wrong word and just plain doesn't notice. Sometimes I say "Gothic novel" when I really mean "graphic novel," but it's not because I don't know the difference. The "middle aged people," on the other hand, isn't quite the same. "The Trinity" is probably an unfamiliar concept to many students, but everyone should know what it means to call someone "middle-aged." (That mistake also indicates a failure to hyphenate properly.)
Plus, it's 3-2. Yeah, I'm going with "middle aged people."
Comments 6
the trilogy? thats elevating the spiritual to something really space-funky.
Reply
Reply
Reply
As far as the "middle aged people" goes, there is nothing to say that they weren't simply talking about middle-aged people in the middle ages. And the fact that they were in the Middle Ages did not need to be expressed because it was to be assumed in a medieval lit class.
As for the second, it is simply a depiction of the trinity in subordinationist language (eg. the Arian heresy), one following the other following the other.
;)
Reply
Reply
I think the former is probably slightly worse. The "Trilogy" thing could possibly be explained as a brain-fart, just one of those instances where someone (a Star Wars or LotR fan?) uses the wrong word and just plain doesn't notice. Sometimes I say "Gothic novel" when I really mean "graphic novel," but it's not because I don't know the difference. The "middle aged people," on the other hand, isn't quite the same. "The Trinity" is probably an unfamiliar concept to many students, but everyone should know what it means to call someone "middle-aged." (That mistake also indicates a failure to hyphenate properly.)
Plus, it's 3-2. Yeah, I'm going with "middle aged people."
Reply
Leave a comment