I just copied the grid from the top of this thread, and got

| O | D | R | A |
| T | L | I | G |
| C | E | M | S |
| U | N | O | H |

Then I put a "[ pre]" and a "[b ]" in front and a "[ /b][ /pre]" after to take away the spacing irregularities and make the type stand out more, and got 
| O | D | R | A |
| T | L | I | G |
| C | E | M | S |
| U | N | O | H |

As I look at my screen they look pretty much like the same letter sequence to me, and garish can be constructed in both.

Did I screw up somewhere? Should we leave out the vertical pipes altogether to minimize confusion? Is this any clearer?

 O  D  R  A
 T  L  I  G 
 C  E  M  S
 U  N  O  H