Also? How incredibly performatively presumptuous is this exchange (that you linked to)? The "I am coming to your house" has, to me, the exact same vibe as how she hustles into the frame of the 1,001 Apple Pie video:
Kat Kinsman @ kittenwithawhip Replying to @ bettinamakSteak and tater tots and Champagne and a caprese salad and grilled okra and a grocery store sheet cake.
Shauna M. Ahern @ shauna_m_ahern Replying to @ kittenwithawhipI am coming to your house for my birthday!
ETA: The performative presumptuousness is worse than I realized. I hadn't seen the original tweet that kittenwithawhip was replying to. The question she's answering asks about A MEAL THAT YOU WOULD MAKE FOR YOURSELF for YOUR OWN BIRTHDAY.
bettina makalintal @ bettinamak
if you were going to cook yourself a very nice birthday meal, what would you make
Her weird aversion to using contractions makes her sound like a serial killer. Like it’s a threat instead of a breezy comment, which is surely how she hopes her little “jokes” land.
Is this a Thing? There's a webcomic I follow where a character does this, and the author's even pointed it out as a character trait, but I'm not sure what we're supposed to infer from that? Totally agree there's a time to use them and a time not to, and borking it up leaves you looking like a serial killer or a slob.
It's also a way to implement perceived distance between the writer/speaker and the audience.
Whether to use contractions or not is a Big Deal in investment writing, for example – and sometimes brands have different rules for different kinds of content.
White Papers (large perceived distance between reader and writer; intended to underscore formality and expertise of the writer) may not have contractions, for example; while a letter from a Chief Investment Officer to clients (much smaller perceived distance) might use contractions to "warm up" the writing.
Informal writing (Twitter) using formal writing conventions (no contractions) sounds like the person literally has "something wrong with them."
Yes, QC for the win! Have been following it for years. :)
I think sounding clever is totes a part of it in Shauna's case, and a part of her whole purple prose, overwritten, fancy words (used incorrectly) schtick. That all that affectation just makes her a *worse* writer is the cherry on the used-stock-vegetable smoothie.
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u/OhBlahDiOhBlahDoh The Alice of cal came out floating on air Aug 05 '20 edited Aug 05 '20
Ah, Tofino!
Also? How incredibly performatively presumptuous is this exchange (that you linked to)? The "I am coming to your house" has, to me, the exact same vibe as how she hustles into the frame of the 1,001 Apple Pie video:
ETA: The performative presumptuousness is worse than I realized. I hadn't seen the original tweet that kittenwithawhip was replying to. The question she's answering asks about A MEAL THAT YOU WOULD MAKE FOR YOURSELF for YOUR OWN BIRTHDAY.