I have a lot of problems with DA; that's no secret. But recently, there was an image of a buxom elf, oozing pulchritude, and the caption was: Qualified Elf Looking for a Party.
Qualified Elf? It was forcefully brought home to me that these people are not native English speakers. They're not English speakers of any sort; they manage to communicate in English solely for the purpose of promoting their artwork! (And from an awakening desire to connect with other artists, I believe; perhaps they don't quite realize this could be interesting. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.)
Just as musicians get fixated on the music they're creating, and writers get tunnel vision about their ẅriting projects (and create Blogs to talk about them (ahem)), so graphic artists are fixated on their creations, and the image in their minds, which they want to make visible. And being foreign (I shouldn't say that, but from my point of view, that's what they are, and it's amazing that their communication skills are this good, honestly) they have to strain to even have a reasonable shot at getting their caption moderately close to what they had in mind.
I had commented on the original post ("Qualified Elf" etc) saying: "Qualified! That's a whole different approach!"
Soon the artist came back with: Sometimes I think make the wrong word choice. I mean competent.
I replied: Skilled, perhaps?
Within a few hours, the caption read: Skilled Elf, Looking for a Party.
I'm both pleased, and alarmed. Why would a Skilled Elf be looking for a Party? What horrible ideas are lurking in the subconscious of this crazy artist? When he says Elf, does he mean prostitute? Entertainer? Party girl?
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