Blog Readability Test

blog readability test

Thanks to Kim, I submitted my blog for a "readability test".

That's an interesting idea, but I have to wonder, what words, or phrase combinations could I possibly have used to generate that "level of education required" to understand my blog?

Comments

C. August said…
Hi, I tested this as well, and it depends only on what post is the most current on your site. When I had a post up about my kids, I had an undergrad rating. But if I submitted an specific post -- say one about individual rights or something -- it was at genius level. So it's fully dependent upon what the first post is. If your most current post concerns a recent movie and you say "it's totally bitchin'!" then you'll probably get a Junior High School rating.

FYI, use the URL to a specifically intellectual post, and you'll get a higher grade. In other words, it's all BS. I know, I'm such a downer. It's like when I told an ex-girlfriend that the neat evening colors of the sunset were due to refraction and pollution, she told me that I "ruined" it for her. *sigh*

See, that made me think it was that much more interesting. But for her, it made it worse.

PS: a girl I was really attracted to in freshman year said, as we were walking to an evening exam, "Why don't airplanes hit the stars?" as we looked up into the sky. And she was serious. After I made up an entire scenario where airplanes and stars wouldn't crash because of air traffic controllers, I gave up. That was the end of the attraction. Her name was Heather and she was physically gorgeous, but completely worthless otherwise.... sigh.
July 2, 2008 at 9:49 PM
Lynne said…
Rats! And I thought I was doing great! It must have been the word "neuroscientist" then.

You really are a kill joy.

I think the girl friend with the seriously depth perception problem needed to have her joy killed.
July 2, 2008 at 10:14 PM
tm said…
Airplanes hitting stars? Seriously? Was that freshman year of high school or college? Wow!
July 3, 2008 at 12:28 AM
C. August said…
Kim, it was college. To this day, I still can't really believe it. My roommate was with us, and it was a running joke with us for years. I'm sure that if I emailed him today -- and I haven't contacted him in 5 years at least -- he'd be able to recount the episode exactly. It really was one of those things that was so outrageous you never forget it.

And she was soooo pretty, and had a cute southern drawl... again, *sigh*
July 3, 2008 at 7:55 AM
Lynne said…
C., I think you should look Heather up. She could be a neuroscientist now (or possibly an astrophysicist due to your snickering).

Some people, especially the ones who are *sigh* so beautiful, just take a little longer than the rest of us to start paying attention.

And not to get all "battle of the sexes" or anything, but in the most superficial of ways, why is it an asset for a woman to have a southern drawl but a liablity for a man? Or is the "liability" thing just my opinion?
July 3, 2008 at 8:18 AM
tm said…
In the realm of hotness I think southern drawls are always an asset. It's when you hit politics or TV anchormen that most yankees associate the drawl with backward ideas of God, Guns, and Country (in that order)--not to mention how SLOW they talk. I used to work at a national help desk and Alabama had, by far, the worst! I would listen for 15 minutes before I realize that they were speaking English and then not even have missed much!

I've always wanted to have a drawl. I sometimes say y'all--but that was just because I thought it was better and more accurate than 'youse guys.' I was secretly thrilled to learn that I was born below the Mason-Dixon line though technically my homestate (New Jersey) is northern. You know, all those southern belles with the big floppy hats, mint julep concoctions, and all the romantic crap associated with southerners. Then I could also claim the winning side of the Civil War. Ah--teenagers!
July 3, 2008 at 11:39 AM
Lynne said…
Donning my spinster librarian hat, furrowing my brow, and pursing my lips (all of which I like to do from time to time under the moniker of "the fun-sucker" given to me by my oldest daughter because I have been known to suck all the fun out of particular situations), I'd have to say that I don't know which use of the plural "you" I find more jarring: "y'all" or "youse guys".

I will say that seeing "youse guys" in print made me laugh, but it's still used for real where I grew up. That doesn't make me laugh so much.
July 3, 2008 at 12:44 PM
Shez said…
Kim, I moved to Norfolk, from Johannesburg, 8 years ago. Soon after I moved, I did a google search to find out what this second language was that people spoke in Norfolk. I kept on meeting sales people who spoke a totally unintelligible language. I was not able to pick out a single word. That was my introduction to the uneducated Tidewater, Southern accent. I still have trouble understanding it. I end up finishing people's sentences because I can't bear how slowly they talk.

C. August, thanks for your comment about how the readability works. I was mortified to discover I had received a "junior high" rating when I submitted my blog. Will try with a post that I wrote in its entirety, instead of one that had a long quote from another blog.
July 3, 2008 at 7:23 PM
tm said…
My cousin married a guy from the panhandle of Florida (real south--not the uprooted northerners near the beach). She'd go visit the family and when her father-in-law was driving her home, she was talking on the cell phone with her family in Jersey. She was talking just like we all do. When she was done, the father turns to the son and says, (imagine deep drawl and real slow) "She talks so fast. She must be smart."
July 13, 2008 at 12:36 AM
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