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Earthquake Coverage

Maybe the thread and the one that suddenly reared its ugly head ARE related. It seems our language (at least in the US) has undergone seismic activities of varying degrees...

umtrr author said,
I once spent a non-trivial amount of time editing a "formal external document" (can't be more specific than that) changing, among other things, all of the improperly used "it's" to the proper "its."

When I returned the next morning, all of those errors had been put back in and I was told that I didn't know what I was doing.
Click to expand...


Like it or not, English is being dumbed down by people who apparently revel in their stupidity and most people just follow along. It seems that other aspects of everyday life is following suit. Some years ago, the late comedian Steve Allen wrote a book called Dumbth, which hit the nail on the head. To see where this could all lead to, there was a movie made a few years ago called Idiocracy which seems to be the roadmap society is following...

Should sloppy speech, spelling and grammar be acceptible and become the norm? Certainly not the examples others have brought up in their posts. I'm not a frustrated English teacher or grammar freak who cringes when someone ends a sentence with a preposition, but I do feel that even slang should follow the "rules of the road".
Those of us in mass communication, whatever the form, should strive to be the standard for others. After all, our written and spoken words reach more eyes and ears than a normal conversation...
 
jfc40ts said:
Like it or not, English is being dumbed down by people who apparently revel in their stupidity and most people just follow along.
Click to expand...

That's undoubtedly correct, but there are many cross-currents that feed into and exploit this dumbing down. The influence of the internet has been mentioned, but that can cut both ways. There's a case for saying that if you contribute to a site which limits how many characters you type, it can force you to express yourself more concisely and clearly; on the other hand, Twitter's limit of a mere 146 characters produces a travesty of language and reinforces the already strong trend of reducing debate to slogans, talking points and one-liners.

It boils down to this: people who don't have a good command of vocabulary and grammar most likely lack the tools to organize their thoughts well. Regardless of their innate intelligence, deficient language skills could handicap them in making or following arguments of any complexity. They become easy pickings for demagogues, of which there are plenty in media and political circles....but that's yet another thread.
 
jfc40ts said:
Should sloppy speech, spelling and grammar be acceptible and become the norm? Certainly not the examples others have brought up in their posts. I'm not a frustrated English teacher or grammar freak who cringes when someone ends a sentence with a preposition, but I do feel that even slang should follow the "rules of the road".
Those of us in mass communication, whatever the form, should strive to be the standard for others. After all, our written and spoken words reach more eyes and ears than a normal conversation...
Click to expand...

Yes, it SHOULD become the norm! That way it will no longer be cool and then people will be forced to use correct grammar - just to be edgy and break the rules! However, we just have to make sure when people start using correct grammar to be cool, we don't get fooled and make correct grammar the norm again or else everyone will just go right back to not using correct grammar anymore. As a matter of fact, we should make it all the norm, that way no one would have a choice but to be articulate and correct. Those who choose to be outcast or rebellious can always purchase Rosetta Stone, learn a new language, then break the rules of that language!
 
jfc40ts said:
Should sloppy speech, spelling and grammar be acceptible and become the norm? Certainly not the examples others have brought up in their posts.
Click to expand...

Ordinarily, I'd let this slide - but, in view of your quote, I couldn't help but notice your incorrect spelling of the word acceptAble.  It's A not I.
Maybe, just a typo.
 
In keeping with the theme (but not the title) of this stream, I'm bothered that the word "yes" is going the way of the 8-track. "Yeah" seems to have permeated the broadcast media. It's particularly noticible (and irritating) when TV news anchors throw an intro to a field reporter.

". . . and now with that story is (reporter's name)."
"Yeah, Don, I'm here at yadda, yadda, yadda."
It's a trend that is also seeping into network coverage. Alas!
 
It's particularly noticible (and irritating) when TV news anchors throw an intro to a field reporter.
Click to expand...

And I thought I was the only that chose my "news" stations by the hand offs. BTW- you're correct bee cuz I'm runnin outta stations to pik from.

That's all (maybe)

HDBG
 
+1 each to KDM 7000 and Listener-In.

This just in: A hard copy invite to resubscribe to a magazine. From the fine print on the bottom:

"Please remit payment in U.S. funds. These rates are limited to the U.S. and it's possessions."

Which magazine* can't tell its from it's?

The New Yorker.

Yes, the New Yorker.

*I do realize that it could be a lame-brained less informed third party subscription service that is handling these notices, but I still expect there to be proofreading from an actual representative of the actual magazine in question.

What's LOLspeak for "I give up"?
 
GMV said:
In keeping with the theme (but not the title) of this stream, I'm bothered that the word "yes" is going the way of the 8-track. "Yeah" seems to have permeated the broadcast media. It's particularly noticible (and irritating) when TV news anchors throw an intro to a field reporter.

". . . and now with that story is (reporter's name)."
"Yeah, Don, I'm here at yadda, yadda, yadda."
It's a trend that is also seeping into network coverage. Alas!
Click to expand...
If that "Don" has a last name of Postles, he has the worst diction of any Buffalo (TV or radio) anchor person. Postles worked in radio before moving to TV. You'd think he'd have worked this stuff out. The man regularly drops "t's" from words like "county" and "center," pronouncing them "counny" and "cenner." We'd never hear Irv, another newsman descended from radio, slur those words.
 
Btw it's noticeable not noticible. As long as we're policing (or is it policeing) spellling, grammar and usage, I might as well throw that one in there.
 
"IANAL" came from the "F-bomb" thread but I thought I would bring it up here. IANAL? ??? IMHO people use too many acronyms on this board. ;)
 
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