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I bet that school graduate knows a lot more about computers and technology than that one of 65 years ago. And kids are studying a lot more younger than even what I did, 15-20 years ago. It’s just different things. And really, spelling just shows that you can spell. I know lots of very intelligent people that can’t spell worth a danm.
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Owls are cool. Enough said.
Back then the kids knew nothing of computers because computers didn’t exist… but how many kids today have enough technical savvy to understand how a steam locomotive works. I’d wager that it would be about the same percentage as those of 50 years ago that knew about how a computer works.
And if you cannot spell, or do not know grammar, or do not know what words mean, then you cannot communicate your thoughts and ideas so that the next generation can understand your technical savvy.
My pet peeve (du jour [|(] ) is that the two words “then” and “than” have become confused and sometimes switched in meaning. It started to occur in informal web forums (like this one) and has proliferated into blogs and from there to newspaper articles and I saw on the TV news the other day a printed quote of a government document that had the two words switched in usage. [8o|]
“Then” means “sequential” relationship… “I prefer to do this THEN that.” – meaning I will do both, in sequence, “this” preceding “that”.
“Than” means “alternative” relationship… “I prefer to do this THAN that.” – meaning I do want to do “this” but I do NOT want to do “that”.
Confuse those two words and you will convey a totally different meaning to your thoughts… And, as such, communication does not occur at all, because communication occurs only if the listener/reader understands the exact information that the speaker/writer intended to convey. Otherwise it is called miscommunication, or confusion, possibly leading to loss of property, life, and peace in our time and the future.[xx(]
A way to decide which word to use is to think of the letter that makes the two words different… If you mean one thing ends the other, then use the word with an “e” in it – “e” for Ending.
[quote user=“Semper Vaporo”]
Back then the kids knew nothing of computers because computers didn’t exist… but how many kids today have enough technical savvy to understand how a steam locomotive works. I’d wager that it would be about the same percentage as those of 50 years ago that knew about how a computer works.
And if you cannot spell, or do not know grammar, or do not know what words mean, then you cannot communicate your thoughts and ideas so that the next generation can understand your technical savvy.
My pet peeve (du jour ) is that the two words “then” and “than” have become confused and sometimes switched in meaning. It started to occur in informal web forums (like this one) and has proliferated into blogs and from there to newspaper articles and I saw on the TV news the other day a printed quote of a government document that had the two words switched in usage.
“Then” means “sequential” relationship… “I prefer to do this THEN that.” – meaning I will do both, in sequence, “this” preceding “that”.
“Than” means “alternative” relationship… “I prefer to do this THAN that.” – meaning I do want to do “this” but I do NOT want to do “that”.
Confuse those two words and you will convey a totally different meaning to your thoughts… And, as such, communication does not occur at all, because communication occurs only if the listener/reader understands the exact information that the speaker/writer intended to convey. Otherwise it is called miscommunication, or confusion, possibly leading to loss of property, life, and peace in our time and the future.
A way to decide whic
Semper, I feel the same way, but I try to refrain from commenting on it because I find myself getting all riled up, too. One thing I will comment on: I get a kick out of a news release that says, “He turned himself into police.” That’s a trick I would like to see.
I used to work on mainframe computers, and it never ceased to amaze me how some very intelligent, competent technicians could not compose a coherent sentence. The human mind is an amazing and mysterious thing.
Murphy! You win the prize [G]… I wondered if anybody would notice!
Now, your problem is figuring out how to collect it [^], on the off chance you decide you actually want it [W].
Paul… sometimes I get riled up and other times I fall on the floor and laugh myself silly. As for the guy that turns himself into the police… what about the person that has their car stolen? I thought that insurance would balk at paying if someone has their car stolen. I am sure they would pay of a car is stolen, but to have it stolen seems like some sort of insurance fraud.
Of course, when I get a headache from all this, I take Nothing for it… I mean, why would I take something, when all the analgesic advertisements say that Nothing is better than their product!
Okay, okay… I confess, I didn’t notice my stupidity until after I had hit the post button, but I was feeling just lazy enough [D)] to let it become a contest to see if someone noticed, rather then click the edit button.
PAY ATTENTION FOLK! PAY ATTENTION! [}:)]
The media and railroads were a topic of discussion around our dinner table way back in the '60’s, and not much has changed. But in our corner of the world, the railway side of the equation has changed since Pershing Square Capital bought into the CPR.
The media not understanding railways has never really changed, but the railway response to that has evolved over time. Once passenger service declined, and railway employment dropped, railways became less important in peoples lives, and the only time people heard of railways was after an incident. And the company liked that.
But in the early '80’s there was an incident that changed that attitude. CP had a small storage yard (Bearspaw) on the west side of Calgary, in the Bow River valley, where they stored loaded grain cars waiting to go out to the coast. One weekend, in the course of switching these cars, there was a drailment and several cars jumped the tracks. A couple of the cars leaned precariously out over the Bow River, which flows along side the tracks. Well, some canoeists or fishermen saw these cars leaning over, and they called the leading TV station in town, and all heck broke loose.
Why didn’t the company issue a media alert, why wasn’t police and fire personnel notified, why wasn’t there a mass ev
OK. I see the bait their on the hook, but than I’m not so sure…[^o)]
One thing you need to unnastan, Semper, is less and less people are making these here grammetrical extinctions these days. But more and more of our kids are graduating high school and than go to colledge.
Yours for good lanwige. John
Shure, but does U know whut da term “HUZUNGA” means, nor wear it comes from?
CMBY,
“what about the person that has their car stolen? I thought that insurance would balk at paying if someone has their car stolen. I am sure they would pay of a car is stolen, but to have it stolen seems like some sort of insurance fraud”
Have to admit I had to read that twice to catch the sublime difference.[:$]
Usually, when someone HAS[swg] their car stolen it to avoid the repo man getting it.
No. I don’t no no Laten wurds.
So as to not derail this serious discussion of the media and railroads, I will only post a link to where you can learn the meaning of the word.
http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/p/148958/2400092.aspx#2400092
Uh huh; When you first mentioned “huzinga,” I thought of an earlier version, told more than sixty years ago, in which the then President of the United States spoke to a gathering of one of the Western tribes. Durinig the speech, he heard continual shouts of what he thought were acclamation. After he finished speaking, he was given a horse–and as he walked towards the horse he was warned against stepping into what he had thought was a word of acclamation. Wherever the speech was made, and whatever the misunderstood word was, the story line is the same.
Speak/write clearly in such a manner that you are understood, no matter what the topic.
No Huzinga!
Railroad “tressel” [:(!] It’s “trestle”
Break = Brake “I breaked my brakes” [swg]
Hey Tree, I know a fireman in the Chicago area who deals with the media on fire seances all the time, do they ever do anything stupid in you neck of the woods such as jump in the back of a ambulance? Also when they first show up do they ask you questions and you have to tell them to,“talk to the chief?” Let me know thanks
I think that all the gaffe’s we see in the coverage of railroad related stories tends to extend to the majority of technologically related news items, at least the ones written/reported by news people other than specialized science writers.
It’s galling that there seems to be little attempt to do backround research but that may well have to do with the frenetic “get-it-on-the-air in 5 minutes” news cyle mentioned in other replies.
The only tech related subject that most reporters seem to have some understanding of is computers/personal electronics because, IMHO, like the general public that is the technology they have most daily contact with…
HA HA HA HA!!! Sorry, but given the “general public” understanding of computers/personal electronics, I don’t see that the reporters have any more knowledge in that area than in railroading, psychology, nuclear medicine, cooking, law, sociology, weather, foot odor, tooth decay, spitting, fashion, marital/extra-marital relations, or any other subject that people find so fascinating… I am pretty sure they do not even understand news reporting in the least way. [(-D]
Haven’t had any jump into an ambulance yet. We’re pretty “small town,” and the media isn’t usually as pushy as you might find in larger markets.
Most of the reporters have learned to look for the white hat. A lot of our chiefs are media shy, however, so a willing few usually end up on camera. A common first question is “who can I talk to?”
I know folks at the local TV station - if there’s a problem with a reporter, I can probably get it straightened out with a quick email.
There is still a somewhat deep-seated dislike of the media amongst some in the fire service around here. I think it’s mostly because folks just don’t want to be bothered. Sometimes I think the scene tape (that yellow plastic ribbon that says “Fire Line - Do Not Cross”) goes up more to keep the media out than the general public.
We had one fellow (an award winning photog) who got some spectacular early-event pictures sometimes - he often managed to beat the first responding units to the scene. He always cast us in a good light, though, so we were prone to give him a little leeway.
I was a reporter back in 1983 and I quit after a few months once I realized where that industry was heading. Wish I could predict the stock market so presciently.
However, to the point about the lumber industry p.r. vs railroad p.r.- the difference is that railroads are part of our national culture, much like the cowboy, so I don’t think it would take nearly as much effort to burnish their image. Judging from recent ad campaigns from CSX and NS, it seems at least those two companies agree with me.