> teachers drilling their students to simplify, simplify, simplify and emulate the ideal of Hemingway. Is that where this comes from?

No. It comes from the fact that Americans are functionally illiterate and genuinely have no idea how to use or interpret em dashes or semicolons. They don't use them and don't expect anyone else to use them. The only time Americans see these punctuations are in the handful of classic books they're required to skim to pass high school English class.

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pessimizer 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Why are Europeans so high on their own farts?

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idle_zealot 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

In 2023 only 44% of American adults read at a high school level.

https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/2023/national_results.asp#...

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xboxnolifes 5 hours ago | parent [-]

The drop from 2017 to 2023 is worrying, but my first reaction is to ask if that is only in the US or is it global? I couldn't find 2023 data for other countries, but the 2012-2017 PIAAC literacy data puts USA roughly in line with the rest of the world. I know people dunking on American literacy isn't new, it goes back easily to 2012 or earlier. If the US is illiterate, then so is much of the world.

screenshot for convenience: https://i.imgur.com/IMrCZch.png

data explorer: https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/ideuspiaac/report.aspx

	▲	idle_zealot 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		That's depressing. For some reason this sub thread seems to think I'm talking about the US from the outside like a punching bag. I singled out the States because I'm more familiar with my country's stats.

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dxdm 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It is an honored tradition.

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/295674/origin-of...