Say What?

Do you ever have those kind of days that you want to shout at the world but then, luckily, your real brain kicks in and stops you?

I'm having one of those months! There is a discussion going on over at Goodreads and I am in the middle of it. One side is emotionally defending an author and the other side is agreeing to disagree. That is fine. I can deal with emotional people. I just stay calm and let them rant on then leave in a huff because I won't rise to the bait. What I am having a problem with is the agreeable ones. 

The author in question wrote a HF set in the era nearest and dearest to my heart. Well, to put it mildly, I felt that she coped out. But that isn't the problem. Someone likened the book to, what she called, "chick lit" and I was offended.

You are probably scratching your head about now and wondering why my dander is up. Well, it's like this...I am offended by the term "chick lit" because it infers that "chicks" aren't smart enough for true literature, we have to have the dumbed down version! Our language skills are in question here! I thought the book was written for 6th graders! (Gotta stop using exclamation points...) 

Is that the reading level that we must write at to get published? Has our vocabulary sunk so low that a typical book is thought of as a "bible-length book by some authors who take pride in decorating every page with language comparable to a university linguist professor."? 

What makes matters worse is the my own niece, who was educated in California schools, is using this verbal shorthand that is just undecipherable.  "This single mom tired of livin in the fox, but what W2s in the mailbox. I'm out this bitch!!!!!! "

So what does this mean? It was translated to me. She said that she is tired of living in her dumpy apartment and can't wait for her W2 to be mailed to her so she can move to somewhere better.

OK...I can see that, can you?