Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

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Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby Tape Splicer » Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:56 pm

Paul P posted this to as part of another thread on how to pronounce "Re mem brance"
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"by Paul P » Fri Nov 11, 2011 6:18 pm"
"This observation doesn't just concern Global anchors/reporters, I have heard it all over TV and Radio today."
"Remembrance is THREE syllables, not four."
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After reading Paul's post, I thought of a couple of things that grind my gears... You've most likely heard something like this...."I LIKE went to the store and LIKE bought some LIKE delicious ice cream." or this...." I YOU KNOW I hope that people will YOU KNOW speak clearly so I can YOU KNOW understand them." Not to mention those %^^&&** words that are liberally sprinkled through out a conversation. If these words were removed from what is said I think that some people would loose half of their vocabulary.

I know that I can't change the world this is just my tilting at wind mills - Just my rant.. respond or ignore as you wish..
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Re: Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby slowhand » Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:58 pm

Even worse when you hear it on the air.
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Re: Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby Mike Cleaver » Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:13 pm

The combination "like, yuh know" is even worse.
As writing skills have declined with the texting generation, so have verbal skills.
None of the people on radio and TV and in print and on the net today who haven't already been doing it for a couple of decades, would never had been hired back in the day.
There were tests and you had to pass them before being considered for employment
The same with "general knowledge."
You had to know something about almost everything to get a job in news.
Recent local examples from TV: A Global News anchor asking a very well known Vancouver restaurant owner demonstrating one of his signature dishes "where he works."
And the same anchor speaking with the Tech reporter about Acer's new Airbook clone, "Is Acer a new company?"
Doesn't anyone do research or have researchers any more?
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54 years experience at some of Canada's Premier Broadcasting Stations
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Re: Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby Tape Splicer » Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:51 pm

You are right Mike when it comes to the "texting set". the commercial on TV for a mobile phone uses the term 'toe-fingers" ... why not just say "thumbs"? It isn't cute it's stupid..
The AD agency is playing DOWN to the audience whom they hope to buy their phones.
Than there are phrases such as: "from the get go" what is "get go" (?) other then from the "beginning" or "start".
The word "gotten" is another word that is used all over the place where other words should more correctly be uses. "an APB was "gotten" out.. instead of "and APB was broadcast"....
Lets not leave out announcers who speak so precisely that they over enunciate every syllable of every word along with the inflection of a question when a statement is being made.... I think I've ranted enough for now...
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Re: Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby J Kendrick » Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:56 pm

These are things all good broadcasters should know ... "to not do"...

... and here's another one that's like fingernails on a blackboard whenever I hear it.

Broadcasters are the very people who set the example for the spoken word, and they -- of all people-- most certainly should know "not to do" this... not "to not do" this.

All of the "grammar police" comments aside, this is one infinitive that should never be split. The word 'not' always goes before the word 'to'... and never after.

To be or to not be... Really? Shakespeare must be spinning in his grave. :neutral:

... and about those alleged "broadcasters" who will insist on saying "first year anniversary".... ack!... Talk about being redundant...
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Re: Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby Paul P » Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:11 pm

I do not recall any instructor in broadcasting school ever mentioning a split infinitive. (I just had to look it up)
Perhaps it's not worried about because no one teaches proper grammar anymore, so no one knows when they're not hearing it.
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Re: Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby J Kendrick » Sat Nov 12, 2011 12:14 am

Paul P wrote:I do not recall any instructor in broadcasting school ever mentioning a split infinitive. (I just had to look it up)
Perhaps it's not worried about because no one teaches proper grammar any more, so no one knows when they're not hearing it.


Gene Roddenberry did it first... "To boldly go where no man has gone before."

Now no one notices it any more.

Just like the old grammar complaint about a certain cigarette commercial that no one remembers any more. "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should".

Blame it on the teaching of today's lazy "Whole Language" method in the schools, rather than the teaching of proper phonics and grammar, which started to disappear from the school curriculum at about the same time that somebody thought it was a good idea to teach kids basic arithmetic with coloured sticks.
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Re: Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby Tape Splicer » Sat Nov 12, 2011 12:59 am

I remember the "new math" and those coloured sticks in the early 60's (perhaps grade 4 or 5) before that it was times tables and memorization....but it wasn't there when our son was in grade school in the late 70's... Wikipedia indicates that just after sputnik was launched was when "new math" began to be taught...again according to wikipedia the teaching technique was gone by the late 70's...so it was used for about 20 years.
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Re: Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby Jack Bennest » Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:06 am

I am, like, going to like disagree with, like, everything ...almost you said John, y'know.

I was raised in radio, mainly in on-air reporting and a little announcing and was always complimented on
the fact that I could make the complex simple for a listener.

When message boards and my new blog were invented I struggled with English usage and spelling, Brain not remembering as much as the old days. Marijuana or Asprin?

I like new words, other ways of communicating ideas - our language has many influences, c'est la vie, fait accompli etc. and now new words Kleenex, laptop, IPod, remotes, lcd etc.

I don't think it’s a good idea to stick to old ways and I compliment John actually for his knowledge of a split infinite (sp) (what was that again, like wow mon.)

On radio I red (past tense of read) BN copy but actually changed it to make the listener hear the meaning. Like reading from a newspaper - makes no sense, Bennest said Saturday after his bath.



k got to go lol
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Re: Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby isthisthingon » Sat Nov 12, 2011 12:05 pm

Here's a link to a terrific resource. Every example is a gem! http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style ... spron.html
(please refrain from attributing mispronunciations to ethnic groups or blaming Americans)
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Re: Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby J Kendrick » Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:35 pm

Jack Bennest wrote: When message boards and my new blog were invented I struggled with English usage and spelling, Brain not remembering as much as the old days. Marijuana or Asprin?

I like new words, other ways of communicating ideas - our language has many influences, c'est la vie, fait accompli etc. and now new words Kleenex, laptop, IPod, remotes, lcd etc.

I don't think it’s a good idea to stick to old ways and I compliment John actually for his knowledge of a split infinite (sp) (what was that again, like wow mon.)


Thanks, Jack. I value your opinion, as always! ;-)

"Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it." ... Professor Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
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Re: Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby Tape Splicer » Mon Nov 14, 2011 11:35 am

As I tilt again at this wind mill, I'll do so in the form of an "Andy Rooney" type question.... Why is it that enjoyment is calculated in terms of weights and measures...."tuns of fun"? And an observation: It's no longer "he said, she said" when someone describes a back and forth conversation to a third person; it's more often "and I go..... and she goes...."

These are the types of conversations that are heard on the bus, street and for this board's purposes on radio and TV... It is no wonder our young and in some cases not so young people can't communicate effectively. ( news interviews of people reacting to a situation are a perfect example.)
The reason why may be in part come from Pave's comments...

Pave; I believe your statement in the "AssTrail Slashes staff in the Okanagan" thread fits well here... and I quote below.....

by pave » Mon Nov 14, 2011 6:11 am

When the real or perceived literacy level of local Talent hardly ever gets past "See Dick. See Jane. See Spot. See Spot's dick. Run, Jane. Run!", it isn't difficult to find more acceptable - the efforts of a syndicated presenter who may, from time-to-time, be able to slap a couple of cogent sentences together... back-to-back.
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Re: Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby Thompson » Mon Nov 14, 2011 11:06 pm

Redundant.....Right now, or currently, it's 12 degrees. This morning at 3 A.M. What ever became of the usage rules around "The" and "Thee", "Ah" and "A"? Thee is misused constantly on radio I listen to. What about the use of "Everybody" and other "Group" communications? Just because it's T.V. or radio, announcers feel the need to talk to the "Group" rather than the individual.
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Re: Poor Language skills , Useage and %^*#$%

Postby jon » Tue Nov 15, 2011 11:15 am

I know that we have had this discussion before, but I've always believed that Redundancy is important for some types of information, especially when most of your audience is in a vehicle where Traffic is a distraction that should take priority in a driver's mind. An excellent example is the Josh Classen weather forecast. The ones he does for Radio have him start and end with the today/tonight forecast. If you tuned in late, are hard of hearing, or were distracted during the beginning, you can fill in the missing pieces at the end.

"There will be scheduled power outage in Leduc tonight at one a.m." is especially appropriate if aired before 1:00 p.m. the day before. It reinforces, in the listener's mind, that they heard it correctly, and it won't be happening at 1 p.m. this afternoon.
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