Diane Flips the Goat-Sucker (and Stephen Takes a Fall)
Saturday, 17 November 2007 Clay Burell 
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(After that last post, I need a bit of fun.)
The blog readability level site is getting a bit viral. Diane Cordell got genius on her own blog, while her A Hundred Echoes quotes-only archive of Shakespeare and Other Great Writers earned college undergrad, I think (right, Diane?).
Me? As a proud eschewer of obfuscation and re-laxative preacher against constipated Latinate diction (ever notice how voiceless the Latinate, how forceful the Saxon-Germanic are? I’ll choose “kissing” over “osculating” any day), I have nothing but pride (okay, I’m lying) in this badge for BS:
[update: the original badge said "High School Level." Image deleted because embed redirects to a "cash advance" site now (?!)]
But in the spirit of fun (and as a rematch of our “Edublogger IQ Live Wrestling Extravaganza” a couple months ago, which is my all-time favorite post on this blog) – and because I spent a well-spent hour this morning watching Stephen Downes’ recent lecture on Free Learning and Control Learning – I gave in to the impulse to enter Stephen’s “Half an Hour” blog. Stephen, congratulations – you’re a smarter writer than me. Here’s your grade:
[Image deleted again: Stephen got "College Level"]
Those college classes really paid off!
(– and Diane, congratulations: You’ve taken the title from Stephen and really “flipped the goat-sucker”!*)
–
Photo credit: ”flipping the goat-sucker” by upeslase
*My reward of 10,000 Korean won still stands for anyone who can enlighten me on the meaning and origin of this lovely phrase.
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No. 1 — November 17th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Hey, cheer up Clay, we clear thinkers (and writers) are just easier for all our readers to understand. From another Junior High School level blog writer.
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No. 2 — November 17th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
I love how the blog readability has spread virally around the blogs from educators, librarians to non-profit bloggers.
I achieved High School level whereas my friend Kathryn Greenhill (Librarian Matters) was Junior High School Level. As she says we are writing so people can understand our posts. But I would really love to know how it determines the level.
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No. 3 — November 17th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Clay,
Thanks for the (dubious) honor and the new research challenge (goat-sucker?). Is there a badge I can display on my blog? On second thought, forget the badge – I don’t want to alienate my reader-geniuses!
Another site I found, Juicy Studio,
http://tinyurl.com/2g6k67
gives a more detailed explanation of “readability” and might actually prove useful if you are targeting a specific audience.
Amazing what information is available when you know where to look!
diane
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No. 4 — November 17th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Clay,
Could the answer to your question be this easy?
http://tinyurl.com/bdf3g
Call me the Chupacabra-chucker!
diane
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No. 5 — November 17th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
Further investigation reveals a kill made by a Texas farmer
http://tinyurl.com/2de7nu
and a video clip from Mexico
http://tinyurl.com/yotxhz
I believe the “flipping” part of the phrase was tacked on by the photographer who took the wrestling picture you credited.
I’ll keep you updated on any further leads.
*Brought to you by a certified 24/7 library goddess-researcher-relentless learner!
diane
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No. 6 — November 17th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
[This didn't post last time I tried. If it's duplicate information, please delete!]
Clay,
On further investigation, I found this news report of a possible goat-sucker encounter in Texas
http://tinyurl.com/2de7nu
and a video clip from Mexico
http://tinyurl.com/yotxhz
I believe that the “flipping” part of the phrase was added by the photographer you cited as a description of the wrestling action he captured.
*The above information was brought to you by a 24/7 certified library goddess/researcher/lifetime learner.
diane
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No. 7 — November 18th, 2007 at 11:07 am
[...] I’ve noticed several ed-tech bloggers getting a kick out of this fun but silly site. Let’s indulge [...]
No. 8 — June 25th, 2008 at 3:31 am
[...] technotuesday.edublogs.org/2007/12/22/another-meme… • Found on Ask.com Diane Flips the Goat-Sucker (and Stephen Takes a Fall) | Beyond School The blog readability level site is getting a bit viral. Diane Cordell got genius on her own blog, [...]