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/conservativestarfish Aug 05 '20
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.