"Deathless prose"

[nq:1]Can someone tell me what this expression means?[/nq]
Prose so good it will always be remembered; it will never die.

Charles Riggs
There are no accented letters in my email address.

Thanks very much, Charles :-)

[nq:1]Thanks very much, Charles :-)[/nq]
Although it's used ironically as often as not.

John Dean
Oxford

[nq:2]Thanks very much, Charles :-)[/nq]
[nq:1]Although it's used ironically as often as not.[/nq]
Or negatively.
"This is not deathless prose."
If you add straightforward negatives to the ironic uses, I'm sure they far outweigh any straightforward use. How often have you heard,

This is great! It's deathless prose! You should find a publisher.

No, it's more like "

[nq:2]Although it's used ironically as often as not.[/nq]
[nq:1]Or negatively. "This is not deathless prose."[/nq]
Well, if you put "not" in front of something it usually turns it negative. But "deathless prose" is not itself negative though it is often ironic.

John Dean
Oxford

[nq:2]Or negatively. "This is not deathless prose."[/nq]
[nq:1]Well, if you put "not" in front of something it usually turns it negative. But "deathless prose" is not itself negative though it is often ironic.[/nq]
It shouldn't be negative, but I fear it is. The ironic form has become so common that I suspect most people think it really means "deadly boring prose".

Ross How

Ross Howard filted:
[nq:1]It shouldn't be negative, but I fear it is. The ironic form has become so common that I suspect most people think it really means "deadly boring prose".[/nq]
That interpretation can be justified as well: "I kept reading and reading, hoping the interminable sentence would come to an end, but it just wouldn't die!"...r

[nq:2]Or negatively. "This is not deathless prose."[/nq]
[nq:1]Well, if you put "not" in front of something it usually turns it negative. But "deathless prose" is not itself negative though it is often ironic.[/nq]
Because it is so over the top. And how would you even know it is really deathless if it hasn't already lived lifetimes? I guess you could tell a student who turned in a wonderfu

[nq:2]Or negatively. "This is not deathless prose."[/nq]
[nq:1]Well, if you put "not" in front of something it usually turns it negative. But "deathless prose" is not itself negative though it is often ironic.[/nq]
True, we were speaking of how it's used. I see there as being three categories of use, roughly:
1) Positive: This is deathless prose. (It is good, great.)
2) Ironic: Oh,

[nq:1]True, we were speaking of how it's used. I see there as being three categories of use, roughly: 1) Positive: ... such words. That was my point. It's something like John Lawler's negative polarity items, not used (much) in the positive.[/nq]
A minor point, but I agree and disagree. Positive sense 1 would indeed be used if someone were praising what most people and the international litera