tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post3986900150856872213..comments2024-03-27T19:11:37.620-04:00Comments on You Don't Say: The little things that countJohn McIntyrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559687583130468871noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-28776775999752741032010-02-06T07:06:19.395-05:002010-02-06T07:06:19.395-05:00When is a mistake not a mistake? On one episode of...When is a mistake not a mistake? On one episode of "The Wire," character Lester Freeman referred to a "limited liability corporation" when he meant "limited liability company." Since this is such a common error, perhaps, in the context of the dramatic dialogue, it was not a mistake at all.Stuart Levinehttp://taxation-business.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-76672632679911278242010-02-05T08:53:06.127-05:002010-02-05T08:53:06.127-05:00Perhaps I should have been more explicit about the...Perhaps I should have been more explicit about the Bertolli commercial. Its point is that the prepared foods are as authentic and high-quality as those in restaurants run by Italian chefs. Using music from a French opera set in Spain does not suggest authenticity. And though my degree from a Big 10 university is in English rather than music, I have the impression that there are ample choices from Italian opera available. The <i>Barber of Seville</i> overture running through Bugs Bunny's "What's Opera, Doc?" cartoon, for example. Not that that rises to the sophistication of <i>Gilligan's Island</i>.John McIntyrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03559687583130468871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-50015508590905188992010-02-05T02:25:28.968-05:002010-02-05T02:25:28.968-05:00Most copy editors will naturally be sensitive to a...Most copy editors will naturally be sensitive to anything (even outside of text) that doesn't quite "fit." But tunes from <i>Carmen</i> have been the basis of parody songs for decades (e.g., "Toreador, don't spit upon the floor"; the musical version of Hamlet put on by the <i>Gilligan's Island</i> castaways). This bothers me no more than did the use of an instrumental passage from Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" in KFC commercials last year - amusing, nothing more. As the holder of a Master of Music degree from a Big 10 university, I say: Relax.gottacooknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-51868453422451815422010-02-04T11:33:05.392-05:002010-02-04T11:33:05.392-05:00She dislikes the journalistic convention of puttin...<i>She dislikes the journalistic convention of putting attribution — “so-and-so said — at the end of a sentence rather than the beginning.</i><br /><br />That would be <i>American</i> journalistic convention. In the UK we do the reader the courtesy of saying who is speaking first, before we reveal what is said, this letting readers put the words in context right away instead of making them wait.Terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01703548364118364764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-72284710419294036892010-02-03T19:52:01.000-05:002010-02-03T19:52:01.000-05:00That Bertolli commercial selling Italian food with...That Bertolli commercial selling Italian food with an aria from a French opera set in Spain has been driving me bats for some time now. I'm glad I'm not the only one.Tiffanyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14569201034072413815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-7130458829838726132010-02-03T17:50:32.103-05:002010-02-03T17:50:32.103-05:00"The Good Wife" isn't about lawyers ..."The Good Wife" isn't about lawyers - it's about sex, because nearly everything on television, including the gnus, is.And I wish she'd cut her hair - so unprofessional. The pasta commercial isn't any sillier than anything else Mad Avenue produces - although I do like the Bach Cello Suite for some automobile or other. At least they don't yell at you, and there are no nasty shrieking children in it.Patricia the Tersenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-41778981213507159392010-02-03T15:53:53.761-05:002010-02-03T15:53:53.761-05:00"One does wonder why people strain at small f..."One does wonder why people strain at small factual errors in journalism when they are prepared to swallow whoppers."<br /><br />Well, that's a really interesting question, worthy of at least a post of its own. I think there's a relationship between the two. I suspect that readers are increasingly unclear about what sources they can trust to provide factual information (newspaper journalism? online journalism? online "journalism?" TV news? And if so, what about openly biased outlets like Fox and MSNBC?). Small errors of fact only increase one's sense that the newspaper is not reliable. <br /><br />For some, the next step - perhaps more of a leap than a step - is to conclude that all alleged facts are suspect, biased, or somehow untrustworthy. They give up, essentially, on rational judgment informed by evidence. It no longer appears to be an effective tool. So they are then open to believing ridiculous conspiracy theories and the like, particularly if the loony idea reinforces their own world view. Try to debunk the looniness, and you find that facts are not convincing; not even believed. In a world where truth can only be found in scare quotes, what else can we expect?MelissaJanenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-14994071231943696442010-02-03T14:51:29.716-05:002010-02-03T14:51:29.716-05:00A local woman here on the Eastern Shore regularly ...A local woman here on the Eastern Shore regularly advertises her classes in basket weaving. They are held on the third Sunday of each month beginning at "12 AM".Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03363646678180113325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-33139113410252064042010-02-03T11:05:35.048-05:002010-02-03T11:05:35.048-05:00I did reader surveys in a previous job and I know ...I did reader surveys in a previous job and I know a little about polling, surveys and statistics. I see many online news sites doing "polls" where they ask readers to give their opinion on some issue, then tout the results as meaningful. Self-selected responses are worthless, and these types of "polls" are easily gamed.Jim Sweeneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-86906278937643773122010-02-03T10:48:27.802-05:002010-02-03T10:48:27.802-05:00At what point does common usage allow errors to no...At what point does common usage allow errors to no longer be errors?<br /> One of the many that I always notice is 12 PM!<br /> After decades of holding the (time) line on 12 Midnight and 12 Noon and I so close to giving in to the ignornat masses as I now know of no one else in my everyday life who even cares! If I do cave in I will use 12 PM for 12 Noon as once time passes 12 Noon it is 12:00.00001 PM - same argument for 12 AM for 12 Midnight. But - I just not quite ready to join the masses! Really - 12n or 12m is easy to do!<br /><br /> Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-49126121936980052452010-02-03T10:21:27.546-05:002010-02-03T10:21:27.546-05:00--Well, yes, "Carmen" is a French opera,...--Well, yes, "Carmen" is a French opera, but then, it's set in Spain. Does that make the Bertolli ad more silly or more reasonable? <br /><br />--Thank you, thank you, for pointing out the margin-of-error problem. In the final days of the Brown-Coakley Senate race, our public radio newscasters kept saying things like "Brown has a slight lead, 51-48, which is within the margin of error for this poll." Well, duh -- then it isn't a lead, is it?Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01579983806826643000noreply@blogger.com