There’s little that really peas me off enough to vent my irritation with a thread. But, I can think of two things:
One, dreary, unimaginative estate agent spiel that always contains the word "arguably" in the first sentence.
And two, arguably, the utter shank journalism full of make-believe drama that never really happens and the Evening Standard website is guilty of that in spades. Here’s a story that the Manchester Evening News covered yesterday. Car catches on fire on the drive-thru of a KFC, fire brigade extinguish it, all the belching smoke causes around the serving hatch to be singed and sooty. Heat shattered some glass but no fire whatsoever inside the restaurant. Evening Standard runs the story today. "Blaze rips through KFC in Greater Manchester…"
tinyurl.com/k4ngmrv
Blaze rips through KFC? Where do they get their journalists from? The University of Dramatical Fabricated Stories? There was one a few weeks ago that I should have posted but I couldn’t stop laughing. It was on the Evening Standard, of course, leading with a guy filming a dramatic car crash on his phone. I watched it. It was 25 seconds of a pavement and the guy’s feet running around and the last split second of a damaged car that happened a long time before he even got there. Absolutely peas poor. And everywhere.
I vote for the birching of any journalist who uses the word "dramatic" or "shocking" in any headlines that clearly aren’t. Oh, and just hang all the estate agents. Full stop.
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Or uses the phrases "plpughed into" or "mown down" in the reporting of road accidents.
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Local rag did a review of a recent 'classic car show' and reported: Another beautiful line-up includes sparkling Morris Miners in pastel shades.
Do you think they could hear the bells above the noise of the coal cutting machinery and wouldn't their pastel shades soon be a grimy black?
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One, dreary, unimaginative estate agent spiel that always contains the word "arguably" in the first
>> sentence.
>>
Don't forget laid to lawn or ever popular.
>> Blaze rips through KFC? Where do they get their journalists from? The University of Dramatical
>> Fabricated Stories?
The university of we need as many people as possible to click on this story.
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What you need is the Daily Mail O'matic Headline generator.
www.qwghlm.co.uk/toys/dailymail/
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'Chaos' as hundreds of people queue for hours in 20C heat for new recycling bins
a.msn.com/r/2/BBzEU2O?m=en-gb&a=1
"Hundreds queue in 20C heat" on "one of the hottest days of the year"
It's hard to imagine a more comfortable temperature to queue in. Evening Standard.
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Advertising 'journalism.....
Only £3.99
Only £599.99
Only £5999.99
Only?.....Schmonly ! Just the price is sufficient.
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The one that really gets me are the number of people who "vow" to do something.
A vow, like the ones I took when I got married, is a solemn thing with huge commitment implied rather than some of those in the news especially politicians or sportsmen.
Keep a look out for them you'll see what I mean.
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Can anything beat the Daily Express' annual story that we are going to be hit with the hardest winter on record blah blah blah. Nathan Rao I think who writes it?
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My pet niggle is when someone who happens to be good at kicking a ball and indeed gets paid a whole load of money to kick them, gets described as a "hero" when they occasionally manage to kick one in the right direction.
A "hero" is a term I prefer to reserve for those who really deserve it.
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Advertisements, for example, which state "100's" or "Hundred's" of cars being available for purchase.
Another gripe is those seeking to emphasise the word "first" by declaring or describing an event or activity as, for instance, "..the first ever...", "...for the first time in history.." or "...for the very first time..."
If it's the first of its kind, that's the only word required....:-)
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The use of "for free" when "free" is sufficient.
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If I have to buy a bigger item before I get the 'free' item then it's not free! Could I just go in and ask for the 'free' item? No, I would have to buy the bigger item first.
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....I think the accusation could be levelled at the great majority of the Fourth Estate nowadays, even the so-called quality press.
The content and quality has gone South somewhat rapidly (and it shows no sign of stopping).
The Telegraph "dumbed-down" sufficiently for me to stop taking it at all some years ago (though I'd already much earlier resorted to only buying the Saturday edition).
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I agree about the dumbing down of the Telegraph, tyred, but feel it is still the best of a bad bunch. Furthermore, it keeps my assignment-marking skills sharp - there are split infinitives galore.
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>> .....there are split infinitives galore.....
>>
...that's where I must have caught it from.....
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>> I agree about the dumbing down of the Telegraph, tyred, but feel it is still
>> the best of a bad bunch.
Not just newspapers either.
In preparation for our forthcoming trip to USA Mrs B and I have bought SIM cards from 3. In course of registering I came across:
'recieved',
a carelessly edited sentence providing that an activity was both permitted and forbidden,
a confirmation email sent to a dummy address rather than that specified by the customer.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 11 Apr 17 at 10:46
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Even the quality press now describe anyone having sex with a fifteen year old as a Paedophile. They know full well that isn't the case, but it makes an eye catching headline I suppose.
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'Quite' unique.
'Very' unique.
I love the TV programme '24 hours in A & E'. Why is everyone 'rushed' to hospital?
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Starting a sentence with "so". We watch a fair few older tv programmes made ten or more years ago (the joy of cable tv/old recordings) and nobody did that. It's a mannerism noticeable by its absence. Now it's everywhere, including print, and I catch myself doing it too sometimes. Which annoys me for some reason.
And I don't think "iconic" means what television narrators think "iconic" means. But language changes I suppose.
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>> Starting a sentence with "so".
That has taken over from "Well...
Less irritating than "And you know what?" People who say that also seem to like "see what I did there?" Both also seen in print.
Last edited by: Manatee on Tue 11 Apr 17 at 12:03
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"Sat" instead of "sitting"
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And stood for standing...but I think those battles are long lost.
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Turning into a right pedant fest ;)
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>> Turning into a right pedant fest ;)
No, it has turned into a right pedant fest ;)
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I prefer "has become" ;-)
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That reminds me, my brother in law is apparently regularly turning round.
He often relates conversations where he claims to have "turned round and said...".
;-)
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>> That reminds me, my brother in law is apparently regularly turning round.
>>
>> He often relates conversations where he claims to have "turned round and said...".
>>
That's a bit like "to be perfectly honest ...", can't they be trusted the rest of the time ...
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"He often relates conversations where he claims to have "turned round and said…"."
Perhaps he’s a ballet dancer. Do the troupe chat as they’re pirouetting?
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"Hyper low prices"
Eh?
;-)
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"Save up to half price".
Yuk.
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>> Or less...
>>
Or fewer.
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>>Or fewer.
Just checking.
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The problem these days is one reads and hears so much mangled English that's it's easy to get confused whether something is right or wrong. Reminds me of a time when an elderly neighbour (now deceased) suffered a minor burglary, the Police report contained dreadful grammar (complete mis-use of past and present participles) to the extent that the old girl almost refused to sign it on principle in case anyone thought it was her work. She eventually did, reluctantly.
Never mind, education standards are rising, so we are to believe. For someone like me who has been involved in recruiting at graduate level, I say that's b*******.
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>> For someone like me who has been involved in recruiting at graduate level, I say that's b*******.>>
I think some of it may be down to the texting craze which involves so many short cuts to make the most use of the 140 characters (although I think this may have been increased these days).
Another annoyance is the misuse of words such as "should've", "would've" etc which many people now write as "should of" and "would of" rather than "should have" and "would have" because of the pronunciation of "'ve" as "duv" or "dov"....!!
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Harleyman's Law of Job Advertising states that any vacancy described as an "exciting opportunity" is guaranteed to be anything but.
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For those logged into Facebook..................................
tinyurl.com/l8omv5w
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Roger, that post should come with a warning!
I am not sure that I will ever set foot in a Greggs again!
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I don't do Facebook but, I wonder if he had spotted dick for afters.
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>> For those logged into Facebook..................................
>>
>>
>>
>> tinyurl.com/l8omv5w
>>
I am not on/in facebook, but I could read that
unfortunately!
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Less of these sort of posts, Roger. Or should I say fewer.
Last edited by: Clk Sec on Mon 17 Apr 17 at 15:31
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Abysmal journalism - Manatee
