| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/15/2008 9:01:53 PM | I know it is not just me as my roommate and others have noted how pathetic 'journalist' have mis used the English language here in the US.
First of all, people 'dissapear', they do not "gone or went missing". That implies that they took their own action to do so.
People DO become missing.
We are not, I hope, so far gone in our language skills to give in to such uneducated means as that.
Recently, a CNN reporter (I suspect he had a journalism degree to get that job), was telling a story of how 2 men decided not to stay in their home when a tornado was upon them. The reporter was not quoting the men when the reported stated that the 2 men decided to leave the home and so they 'fleed' the reporter said.
'Fleed'? My roommate and I just shook our heads.
We as a nation are as strong as our most educated, I feel it an insult to hear the newscasters, who had the opportunity to get a degree in a high paying and mostly high profile job speaking in such a manner.
It is no wonder many in the US are illiterate and it seems the news media is as well.
If you disagree, then that is your right, if I mistyped anything then that is 'my bad' (joke as mom thought Paris Hilton made that up and she did not) and a newscaster used that tonite on the late news... puuuh .. lease.. don't be cute or entertaining, just report the news without bias or bad English.
Thanks | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/15/2008 9:19:40 PM |
First of all, people 'dissapear', they do not "gone or went missing".
No they don't dissapear.....but they can disappear
Guess we all make mistakes. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/15/2008 9:20:16 PM | The reporters just read what is put infront of them so what makes you so sure that they didn't just make a mistake and read a typo incorrectly (fleed)... as you have admitted that YOU also make typos.... such as dissapear instead of disappear, right off the bat.
I do agree with you that the English language is suffering a cruel drawn out death ( or changes as many would put it) and that those we look to for information are often largely responsible for that.
My two favourite pet peeves? I seen and there IS ( insert any number greater than ONE here) eg. dogs/dolphins/chances etc. have and are are lost words. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/15/2008 10:03:49 PM | On more than one occasion within the last month, Newsreaders (as I call them) repeatedly mispronounced "Junta."
One local Newsreader persists in repeatedly prefacing statements with "Now" as if she was instructing a child: "Now, the man was unarmed;" "Now squirrels are known to live in trees..."
One newspaper headline read something like: "China Earthquake Spreads Fear in BC."
Actually, the earthquake is incapable of such. The newspaper, on the other hand, was attempting to accomplish the task, for profit.
Moreover, it appears the majority of media editors must be innumerate. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/15/2008 10:26:48 PM | With the influence and frighteningly fast spreading and acceptance of text speak in our schools and Universities, would you expect anything less? I am the bane of my children's conversations, I make them tell me the words correctly before I will even let them contemplate using 'less than perfect' English anywhere in earshot. And don't even get me started on text speak, I will not answer texts from any of them if they are replete with meaningless mumbo jumbo.
They have all asked me why I do that, I told them point blank; I want to know you can speak correctly because your college professor or boss won't care how good you are 'if u cnt spk lik a nrml peep.' | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/15/2008 11:04:50 PM |
your college professor or boss won't care how good you are 'if u cnt spk lik a nrml peep.'
If college professors cared about the way people speak and write, we wouldn't have such poor language skills in college graduates. Bosses don't care about language either, because most of them are as illiterate as the rest of the population. A good command of the English language does not confer any particular advantage. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 4:08:21 AM | If college professors cared about the way people speak and write, we wouldn't have such poor language skills in college graduates. Bosses don't care about language either, because most of them are as illiterate as the rest of the population. A good command of the English language does not confer any particular advantage.
In general I found my professors cared about how I wrote, but they didn't get much opportunity to find out about my spelling due to words spell correction.
Then again, another entire set of skills has entered the population for the most part, just compare the previous generations computer literacy with the current ones. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 4:21:38 AM |
know it is not just me as my roommate and others have noted how pathetic 'journalist' have mis used the English language here in the US.
First of all, people 'dissapear', they do not "gone or went missing". That implies that they took their own action to do so.
Grammer/spelling nazis should use spell check. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 4:25:53 AM | English (especially the American and Australian dialects) is a "dynamic" language. Spelling and grammar have and will change over time, with use; in my lifetime, a number of words have changed drastically in meaning (e.g., "gay," which once meant "happy and carefree," now means "homosexual"), and undoubtedly these changes in definition, and use, will continue.
Examine the spelling in "English" documents from three or four centuries ago, and you may see that spelling hasn't always been such a rigid discipline.
I especially enjoy reading documents that use lower case "F" in place of "s."
I believe "went missing" may be a legal phrase used in law enforcement to describe a person whose presence is missed. As far as I'm aware, "disappear" is what the magician makes the rabbit do. Or what happens to ballpoint pens, TV remotes, and car keys around here... | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 5:07:14 AM | It makes me crazy when people misuse the word "myself" trying make themselves sound more literate - e.g. "Please call Jim or myself if you need any assistance."
It has now crept into more and more TV and radio broadcasts, which ( like the OP) I feel is even worse.
The inappropriate reflexive form has a wonderful name: the untriggered reflexive. "Myself" tends to sound weightier, more formal, than little ol' me or I, so it has a way of sneaking into sentences where it doesn't belong. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 5:32:05 AM | My pet peeve is the incorrect use of the personal pronoun "I," where "me" is the proper choice, and vice versa.
"This was done by Bob and I," INCORRECT;
"This was done by Bob and me," correct form.
(Remove Bob from the statement- "This was done by me," not "This was done by I.")
"Bob and me will do this," INCORRECT;
"Bob and I will do this," correct form.
(Again, remove Bob from the statement- "I will do this," not "Me will do this.") | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 5:42:05 AM | "If college professors cared about the way people speak and write, we wouldn't have such poor language skills in college graduates."
My professors in Philosophy and Law have made it clear they don't tolerate bad grammar (along with bad argument) and mark accordingly. In law school, they really penalise you heavily for even minor errors in spelling, grammar or citation, so you have to become a good writer fast. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 5:54:32 AM |
If you disagree, then that is your right, if I mistyped anything then that is 'my bad'
I think that you should not complain too loudly about what you perceive to be poor linguistic choices by newscasters when your post is riddled with mistakes. It would be quite ironic for someone with such poor grammatical skills to complain about others. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 8:13:28 PM | I can't say I've noticed poor grammar skills in the news yet but it's everywhere amongst the US population. I don't think it's all the fault of professors or teachers but I do think some fault is on parents. I'm very grateful that my parents never let me or my siblings use poor grammar.
I know of a few people who are intelligent and successful. But their grammar is absolutely awful. Double negatives such as "I don't want no more" or "it didn't cost me nothin'". Or they're too damn lazy to put in an extra syllable and substitute 'don't' where 'doesn't' should be used.
Also it's not excape. It's escape.
Not exspecially but especially.
A photograph is a picture. Not a pitcher.
Plural for brother-inlaw is brothers-inlaw. Not brother-inlaws.
Poor grammar is everywhere. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 8:22:21 PM | | " We as a nation are as strong as our most educated "........Here in lies the problem.....It is truly time to update our educational system....It's AMAZING....the mind set that is graduating from our colleges. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 9:46:04 PM | Actually, I believe it's still correct to hyphenate "in-law" or "in-laws," so correctly I think it would be "brothers-in-law."
I remarked about education in another thread; Education and health care is one of those areas where politicians like to cut funding when spending needs to be controlled. I live in a city with a crumbling educational system, and an overtaxed public health system, that's willing to spend a BILLION DOLLARS to build a fancy sports stadium where BEER-SWILLING, SUV-DRIVING BUBBAS can watch overpaid, oversexed, delinquent millionaire athletes play football.
We need to make some politicians pee in a cup to see what they're smoking on our time... | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 10:02:25 PM | Bad English in the News . . . - kariharte
> Kariharte is right - and it's not only journalists on TV and radio who are destroying the English language.
> I went in to my local library and asked for a book on a certain subject. The librarian - that's the chief librarian, with the frown and the grey hair, dripping with qualifications - said: "Was there a pacific author you were after?"
> Pacific?
> Of course she meant specific, but in today's lazy speech specific has way too many syllables to get our tongue around. Other words are being mangled. For instance: "I bought it with me," instead of: "I brought it with me." I hear it all the time on the radio.
> On the main news at six o'clock on TV they talk about "an historic decision", instead of a historic decision. You should only use 'an' when it is followed by a vowel. An hour, an honest person, an heir to the throne, etc. No point in telling them, because they've got their degrees. They went to the school of journalism and they know best.
> Even on television, we see film titles and actors' names in lower case - to make it look 'cool.'
> Hyped-up children's TV presenters, complete with ripped denims, manky hair and tattoos, leap up and down like maniacs, screaming and shouting at the children (the 'kids'), punch the air as if they are on drugs. No decorum. No politeness. Just a madhouse posing as a children's magazine programme.
> I would say that in 20 years there will be no (written) English language left. It'll be do as you please, as long as the reader gets some idea of what you are trying to say. There is an indication of this here in New Zealand, where I live. University students are now allowed to write their papers in textspeak. How do you 'mark' textspeak?
> Best wishes - Soul Union. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 10:44:42 PM |
You should only use 'an' when it is followed by a vowel.
Actually, use 'an' in place of 'a' when it precedes a vowel sound, not just a vowel.
e.g. an honest man, an MRI, a UFO...
Whole damned world's going to hell in a handbasket. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 10:47:52 PM |
University students are now allowed to write their papers in textspeak. How do you 'mark' textspeak? Easy, they don't. Hence the mangled spelling and generally poor grammatical skills of the times.
It starts at home and is reinforced at school, both good and bad. I can somewhat understand text speak while texting, it does make your fingers hurt and there aren't many words you can fit into 160 characters. The extent of my understanding ends there. There is no place for it in the workplace, any adult conversation, nor in any professional setting.
While we are at it, one of my many pet peeves is the incorrect usage of their, there and they're. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/16/2008 10:57:15 PM |
Actually, use 'an' in place of 'a' when it precedes a vowel sound, not just a vowel.
e.g. an honest man, an MRI, a UFO... Whole damned world's going to hell in a handbasket. - DietCoke®Guy
> Thanks, DietCoke®Guy, but I had to draw the line somewhere with these examples.
> And I agree with your sentiments about the world going to hell in a handbasket. Or is that a handcart? I think it depends upon the price.
> Best wishes - Soul Union. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/17/2008 12:04:57 AM | I was in a local grocery store recently and was appalled at the misspellings and overabundance of apostrophes on a sale poster.
When I pointed out the mistakes to a department manager, the response was:
"If it's readable, then it's Englishly correct."
As long as those people are out there, writers such as myself will always have work. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/17/2008 4:57:27 AM | Oops...In-law. Not inlaw.....Thank you Beau.
Soul, I'm glad you pointed out how we hear 'an historic' in the media. I've noticed that too and it's not gramatically correct. Does anyone ever say 'an history book'?
Either and Neither. When I was in grade school we pronounced them both with a 'long E'. But today one must use a 'long I'. I pronounce both the way I was taught.
Back in 1991 when the Twins won the World Series Chili Davis was the DH. Anyway a friend was at one of the regular season games where he saw a banner a well meaning fan had hung up. It read "ARE CHILI IS HOT"
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/17/2008 6:40:08 AM | It's bad enough when they can't write it, but how about radio hosts that have a tough time even speaking it?
"Myanmars' military junta..." pronounced JUNE-TA. Pardon? Maybe they like JAIL-APENO peppers on their nacho chips too.
Although with newspapers one would think both the writer and the editor should fear for their jobs. | |
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/17/2008 9:06:54 AM | Americans bemoaning the use of poor English.. oh the irony.. LMFAO!!
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| Bad English in the News
Posted: 5/17/2008 2:59:47 PM | ^^^^ Cheeky. Contrary to common belief NOT all Americans are as dense as their "esteemed" Leader...
I recall a reporter once talking about Tofino ( on Vancouver Island) and calling it toffee-no instead of Tof-FEE-no.
My local irk?
Broadcasters and announcers of all types DAILY on most stations calling the ferry and city of Tsawwassen TUH wahssen not SUH wahssen... the T is silent!!
There is NO excuse for these people not to learn the correct pronounciations of these words. They can simply have their cheat sheets/flip cards spell it phonetically for them should it need be. | |
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