Have you heard that saying “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture” ? It always stuck in my mind because for one thing I like the poetry of it, but mainly because it confused me. I think I got the point it was trying to make but I wasn’t sure that it really made that point. Then I figured out my confusion. The best way to explain my confusion is with the following reply.
Dancing about architecture is like fencing around landscaping.
Cheap Talk 
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July 19, 2011 at 3:03 pm
Frank
…is like knitting (about) gourmet food.
I see that “fencing around landscaping” has two meanings, but beyond that, am confused about your confusion.
July 21, 2011 at 7:44 pm
jeff
Frank, dancing about architecture has the same double meaning.
July 19, 2011 at 8:39 pm
Mild Speculation
This reminds me of the expression “sub-par” which is used to mean “inadequate,” yet in the most recognizable use of the word par, in golf, it is the opposite.
To help correct this, I pledge to say “under-par” when something surpasses expectations.
July 20, 2011 at 4:21 am
conchis
There’s really nothing to ‘correct’ here; ‘sub-par’ makes perfect sense. ‘Average’ was a general and widely accepted meaning of the word ‘par’, well before the golf-specific term became popular (see e.g. here).
July 21, 2011 at 10:13 pm
arabconstruct@yahoo.com
—–happy to deal with it—just like dancing, hearing just a couple of beats, can make you dance..