Schadenfreude

"Schadenfreude" is a German word that means, "taking delight in someone else's misfortune." While it bears no explaining that Germans came up with such a word, I think the word has, thanks to the realities and oddities of modern life, become a permanent resident of the public domain throughout Western culture. Though gloating over someone else's foolishness may sometimes just be an exercise in meanspiritedness, it may sometimes be defensible to look on with awe at a disaster someone else has precipitated and marvel at the sheer perverse craftsmanship involved.

In the spirit of this special sort of (post?)modern regard for the mistakes of others, I offer a link to a website on which an advertising agency features spectacular instances of bad writing. The examples are instructive for at least two reasons: first, to let you know that bad writing really does block you from moving upward in the world; and second, to let you see how bad an ill-considered piece of writing can make a person look. Perhaps the people who wrote these howlers weren't idiots, but I fear it's likely that no one will ever know for sure. Unless you see your future as being centered around operating a Slurpee machine, you should avoid the kind of writing displayed in the examples offered by Killian Advertising.

While we're on the subject of spectacularly bad writing, no one should leave college without knowing about the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest. This contest awards prizes to the worst opening passages of a piece of fiction. As far as I'm aware, all you get for a Bulwer-Lytton prize is the distinction of using some of your fifteen minutes of fame as a bad writer.