correction 6

Question

0CBS is airing a new series called Swing Town. As the name implies, the show is about a town of swingers practicing polygamy. The network received tons of negative as well as positive feedback even before the debut. Due to its adult content, the much anticipated series is put in a later timeslot, a move critics call network desperation as steamy series are often associated with cable networks and movies. During an interview, the producer defended, saying "If you don't like it, don't watch". Wondering what's the lifestyle of swingers, I think I'm going to watch though I don't like XX films [help...it's shot in the 70s setting...what's the opposite of contemporary or modern] - contemporary or modern??? films are much better in general.02br02br00Please correct any mistakes.02br02br00Thanks.0-

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

1i00CBS is airing a new series called 01del~~00Swing Town02del~~00 01b00Swingtown02b00. 02i02br
02br
00I'm not familiar with this show myself, but on the CBS website it's called "Swingtown". I'd probably put "Swingtown" in italics, or quotes, but this is really a style thing.02br
02br
01i00As the name implies, the show is about a town of swingers practicing polygamy.02i02br
02br
00"Polygamy" means being 01i00married02i00 to more than one person at the same time. Is that really the case here? Or are they just engaging in promiscuous ***?02br
02br
01i00The network received tons of negative as well as positive feedback even before the debut. 02i02br
02br
00"Tons of" is a very informal expression that might be just a tad too casual here.02br
02br
01i00Due to its adult content, the much anticipated series is put in a later timeslot, a move critics call network desperation as steamy series are often associated with cable networks and movies. 02i02br
02br
00The logic of this sentence doesn't really work for me. The alleged "desperation" logically seems to apply to the fact that they showed it at all, not the fact that they shunted it into a late timeslot. I also don't really see why steamy 01i00series02i00 are "associated with movies". Do you mean "steamy content/subject matter"?02br
02br
00If "network desperation" is a literal quote from critics then I'd put it in quotes. If it's not a literal quote then I'd consider rephrasing the sentence to avoid the impression that the quotes ought to be there but had been forgotten. 02br
02br
01i00During an interview, the producer defended 01b00the decision02b00, saying "If you don't like it, don't watch". 02i02br
02br
00The verb "defend" can occasionally be intransitive ("I attacked and he defended.") but this is fairly rare and doesn't quite work for me here.02br
02br
01i01del~~00Wondering what's02del~~00 01b00Being curious about02b00 the lifestyle of swingers, I think I'm going to watch01b00,02b00 though I don't like *** films [help...it's shot in the 70s setting...what's the opposite of contemporary or modern] - contemporary or modern??? films are much better in general.02i02br
02br
00I'm not completely clear just from what you wrote if your preference depends on when the film is 01i00made02i00 or the period in which it's 01i00set02i00. But I gather that this is a modern production set in the 1970s, so I guess you probably mean the latter. In fact, this show appears to be a drama series, not a film. There's a term "period drama" which means a drama set in a past time, but whether a drama set as recently as the 1970s would qualify as a "period drama" is questionable. I'd probably end up saying something like: "I don't like shows set in the past -- I much prefer shows with a modern/contemporary setting."02br
02br
00Your hyphen should be a dash, but probably you know that. When I can't be bothered to try to enter a proper dash I use two hyphens: "--".0-

New2grammar · Answer

1i00CBS is airing a new series called 01del~~00Swing Town02del~~00 01b00Swingtown02b00. 02i02br
02br
00I'm not familiar with this show myself, but on the CBS website it's called "Swingtown". I'd probably put "Swingtown" in italics, or quotes, but this is really a style thing.02br
02br
01font00Good Point02font02br
02br
01i00As the name implies, the show is about a town of swingers practicing polygamy.02i02br
02br
00"Polygamy" means being 01i00married02i00 to more than one person at the same time. Is that really the case here? Or are they just engaging in promiscuous ***?02br
02br
01font00You are right. It should be promiscuous ***. Thanks.02font02br
02br
01i00The network received tons of negative as well as positive feedback even before the debut. 02i02br
02br
00"Tons of" is a very informal expression that might be just a tad too casual here.02br
02br
01font00The problem is I don't know a good substitute for it 05000 Any suggestions?02font02br
02br
01i00Due to its adult content, the much anticipated series is put in a later timeslot, a move critics call network desperation as steamy series are often associated with cable networks and movies. 02i02br
02br
00The logic of this sentence doesn't really work for me. The alleged "desperation" logically seems to apply to the fact that they showed it at all, not the fact that they shunted it into a late timeslot. 02br
02br
01font00The logic is even though the content is steamy, the network decided to show it and simply move it to a latter slot which implies how desperate the network is. How would you repharase the sentence to make it work?02font02br
02br
00I also don't really see why steamy 01i00series02i00 are "associated with movies". Do you mean "steamy content/subject matter"? 01font00I agree. Sorry02font02br
02br
00If "network desperation" is a literal quote from critics then I'd put it in quotes. If it's not a literal quote then I'd consider rephrasing the sentence to avoid the impression that the quotes ought to be there but had been forgotten. 02br
02br
01i00During an interview, the producer defended 01b00the decision02b00, saying "If you don't like it, don't watch". 02i02br
02br
00The verb "defend" can occasionally be intransitive ("I attacked and he defended.") but this is fairly rare and doesn't quite work for me here.02br
02br
01font00I see.02font02br
02br
01i01del~~00Wondering what's02del~~00 01b00Being curious about02b00 the lifestyle of swingers, I think I'm going to watch01b00,02b00 though I don't like *** films [help...it's shot in the 70s setting...what's the opposite of contemporary or modern] - contemporary or modern??? films are much better in general.02i02br
02br
00I'm not completely clear just from what you wrote if your preference depends on when the film is 01i00made02i00 or the period in which it's 01i00set02i00. But I gather that this is a modern production set in the 1970s, so I guess you probably mean the latter. In fact, this show appears to be a drama series, not a film. There's a term "period drama" which means a drama set in a past time, but whether a drama set as recently as the 1970s would qualify as a "period drama" is questionable. I'd probably end up saying something like: "I don't like shows set in the past -- I much prefer shows with a modern/contemporary setting."02br
02br
01font00It's a modern production set in the 70s. I've always thought film included all types of motion pictures such as movies and drama series.02font02br
02br
01font00a. a sequence of images projected onto a screen, creating the illusion of movement 02font02br
02br
01font01b00b02b00. a form of entertainment in such a sequence of images Related adjective 02font01a01b01font00cinematic02font02b02a02br
02br
02br
00Your hyphen should be a dash, but probably you know that. When I can't be bothered to try to enter a proper dash I use two hyphens: "--".02br
02br
01font00You are the first person to tell me that. What's the difference? Are there two different keys on the keyboard? When to use which?02font02br
02br
01font02font02br
02br
01font00Sorry for so many follow-up questions. You got many good points and I just wanted to make sure I get all your points.02font010id6

Mr Wordy · Answer

1i00The network received tons of negative as well as positive feedback even before the debut. 02i02br
02br
00"Tons of" is a very informal expression that might be just a tad too casual here.02br
02br
01font00The problem is I don't know a good substitute for it 05200 Any suggestions?02font02br
02br
01font00"a great deal of" or "a large amount of" are the obvious choices that come to mind.02font02br
02br
01i00Due to its adult content, the much anticipated series is put in a later timeslot, a move critics call network desperation as steamy series are often associated with cable networks and movies. 02i02br
02br
00The logic of this sentence doesn't really work for me. The alleged "desperation" logically seems to apply to the fact that they showed it at all, not the fact that they shunted it into a late timeslot. 02br
02br
01font00The logic is even though the content is steamy, the network decided to show it and simply move it to a latter slot which implies how desperate the network is. How would you repharase the sentence to make it work?02font02br
02br
01font00To me, a more logical form of words would be something like: 02font02br
02br
01font01i00The show's steamy subject matter is usually associated more with cable networks and movies [than with broadcast networks?], and critics call the move "network desperation". 02i02font01i01font00Due to its adult content, the much anticipated series is put in a later timeslot.02font02i02br
02br
01font00I think that something similar to the text I put in square brackets might be a good idea (it makes the contrast better), but I don't know if "broadcast network" is the correct US term. 02font02br
02br
01font00I've always thought film included all types of motion pictures such as movies and drama series.02font02br
02br
01font00Hmm... I'm wondering if there might be a US/UK issue here. In the UK, in the context we're talking about (i.e. fictional shows on TV), "film" exclusively means "movie". A drama series would never be called a "film" (nor would a single episode). 02font01font00I 01i00thought02i00 that this was also true in the US, but it sounds as if I might be wrong... 02font02br
02br
00Your hyphen should be a dash, but probably you know that. When I can't be bothered to try to enter a proper dash I use two hyphens: "--".02br
02br
01font00You are the first person to tell me that. What's the difference? Are there two different keys on the keyboard? When to use which?02font02br
02br
01font00Probably the best thing I can do is refer you to 01a05000 02a00 and 01a05100 02a00. 02font024024112id6

New2grammar · Answer

0Thank you so much, Mr. Wordy.02br
02br
00_- (I still can't find the dash key on my laptop keyboard and don't remember having it on my old desktop keyboard) For now, I'll use two hyphens as you suggested. Thanks again.0-

Mr Wordy · Answer

1blockquote

01cite10New2grammar12cite12br
10_- (I still can't find the dash key on my laptop keyboard and don't remember having it on my old desktop keyboard) For now, I'll use two hyphens as you suggested. Thanks again.12br
12br
12blockquote

10No, you won't have separate keys for dashes; there's some info about how to enter them at the references I gave. The two-hyphens method is good for ASCII-only text (where dashes aren't in the character set at all), or mediums such as email and discussion forums, but wouldn't be appropriate for a proper publication.0-

New2grammar · Answer

0Thanks for the advice. I found it.02br
02br
00In 05000, the figure dash is 05100 (decimal 8210). HTML authors must use the numeric forms 01code00‒02code00 or 01code00‒02code0240hrefhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UnicodecUnicode241hrefhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode#UpluslinkcU+2012

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