[Deb B]

One of my pet peeves is the butchering of the English language -- grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. -- on the part of journalists.

Tonight's example... I was dialing around and found this banner running at the bottom of the screen on MSNBC:

William Gingler's sons explain why they turned their father into police.



Edited boo boo in the text of this message -- can't figure out how to edit the title.

This post has been edited by Resume Lady: 18 January 2006 - 09:49 AM

[benning]

Well, they're obviously magicians!

[cybertrano]

I noticed that lately from time to time that news articles had grammar problems. I had not noticed those from the 70s and 80s.

But then I can barely speak English so it's hard for me to notice any differences.

One of my pet peeves is the butchering of the English language -- grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. -- on the part of journlists.

Tonight's example... I was dialing around and found this banner running at the bottom of the screen on MSNBC:

William Gingler's sons explain why they turned their father into police.

[bishmasterb]

One of my pet peeves is the butchering of the English language -- grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. -- on the part of journlists.

You should add spelling to that list.

[nhardy]

William Gingler's sons explain why they turned their father into police.

Hope it wasn't the gay cop:

[ngilbert]

Hope it wasn't the gay cop:

Don't make me hold you in protective custody my friend

[c_vanderveen]

One of my pet peeves is the butchering of the English language -- grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. -- on the part of journlists.

Tonight's example... I was dialing around and found this banner running at the bottom of the screen on MSNBC:

Weird. You did it twice, in the headline and in the message text. Is that how you think it's spelled?

This post has been edited by c_vanderveen: 18 January 2006 - 08:40 AM

[ducky]

Resume Lady, If you are referring to the captioning that appears below news programs, you might want to reconsider your criticism if you knew how it gets there. It is done by captioners, using similar equipment that court reporters use. Try writing the first letter of every word said by a speaker in one column on a piece of paper and then another mark for every word said by another person in another column and so on for each speaker on a news program.

Now, go a step further and imagine that all of those words need to be correct such as to, too, two; their, they're, there. You get the idea.

Add into that mix little-heard-of geographic locations around the world that suddenly are forefront in the news because of an earthquake, volcano, war, etc. It really is a daunting task.

[Deb B]

You should add spelling to that list.

Resume Lady slaps self! LOL Guess my fingers weren't working too well last night. I usually proof my posts, too, but didn't last night. Good catch!

Resume Lady, If you are referring to the captioning that appears below news programs, you might want to reconsider your criticism if you knew how it gets there. It is done by captioners, using similar equipment that court reporters use. Try writing the first letter of every word said by a speaker in one column on a piece of paper and then another mark for every word said by another person in another column and so on for each speaker on a news program.

Now, go a step further and imagine that all of those words need to be correct such as to, too, two; their, they're, there. You get the idea.

Add into that mix little-heard-of geographic locations around the world that suddenly are forefront in the news because of an earthquake, volcano, war, etc. It really is a daunting task.

That's interesting -- I didn't know that's how they do the captioning. But, no, it isn't just captions. It's journalism in every form -- television news reporters and anchors, newspaper articles, etc.

[benning]

Do all of you know about the book called 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves'? From what I heard it's a pretty hilarious account of the (mis)use of grammar today.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159240087...5Fencoding=UTF8

Also, I've heard not to be missed is the parody of that book, 'Eats, s---es and Leaves'

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/184317098...5Fencoding=UTF8

[Terry]

Do all of you know about the book called 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves'? From what I heard it's a pretty hilarious account of the (mis)use of grammar today.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159240087...5Fencoding=UTF8

Also, I've heard not to be missed is the parody of that book, 'Eats, s---es and Leaves'

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/184317098...5Fencoding=UTF8

There's a joke that goes with the title of the book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves".

A panda goes into a bar, orders appetizers, eats them all, shoots a gun in the air, and runs out. The panda bear does this several days in a row. The bartender finally asks the panda "You come in here every night, order apetitzers, fire you gun, and then run out. What's with that?". The panda frowns at the bartender and says "Look up 'panda' in the dictionary", then repeats his nightly ritual. When the panda leaves, the bartender grabs a dictionary and looks up "panda". It says "panda - member of the bear family; eats shoots and leaves."

[Deb B]

[quote name='benning' date='Jan 18 2006, 03:02 PM' post='95645']
Do all of you know about the book called 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves'? From what I heard it's a pretty hilarious account of the (mis)use of grammar today.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159240087...5Fencoding=UTF8

I LOVE this book! I hadn't heard about the parady book though; thanks for the link.

[tessieca]

Why are ewe bothering with this when their are ask murderers running around lose?

[Deb B]

Why are ewe bothering with this when their are ask murderers running around lose?

Why discuss anything until all of the mass murderers are caught?

[ngilbert]

Do all of you know about the book called 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves'? From what I heard it's a pretty hilarious account of the (mis)use of grammar today.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159240087...5Fencoding=UTF8

Yep - that's a great book. We've got a copy editor in the family, so of course ES&L and the ol' Strunk & White are well-loved around here.

[kaybird]

I blame Bill Gates.

Since Microsoft took over the world everyone relies on "spell check" and "grammar check" for everything. Unfortunately, they aren't perfect. It has become very easy to forget proper grammar.

That being said...
I'd be lost without "spell check" and "grammar check" and am happy to have them!