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Usenet Posted 21 years ago
Usage
From the companion volume to PBS television's *Do You Speak American*
Do You Speak American is a program which will appear on the US television network PBS ("Public Broadcasting System," a government-owned network) and will have Robert McNeil discussing the various dialects of American English. The other day I took a look at the companion volume to the series: "Do You Speak American?: A Companion to the PBS Television Series by Robert MacNeil and William Cran. Publisher: Nan A. Talese: Doubleday, copyright 2005.
The subject discussed in the first chapter, "The Language Wars," is prescriptivism versus descriptivism. John Simon appears as an advocate of the first (and others are cited) and Geoffrey K. Pullum and Jesse Sheidlower as advocates of the second.
For example, Sheidlower discusses a charge Simon makes against the editors of current dictionaries:
(quote)
Sheidlower denies Simon's charge that they are regarding as law whatever ordinary people say. "Absolutely untrue," he says. In fact, it's still the case that what the educated say is the law, because a language feature used only by the uneducated would always be described as just that." What Sheidlower means is that his dictionary makes the distinction between what is accepted in correct usage and what is still seen as "slang" or "informal."
(end quote)
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com
The subject discussed in the first chapter, "The Language Wars," is prescriptivism versus descriptivism. John Simon appears as an advocate of the first (and others are cited) and Geoffrey K. Pullum and Jesse Sheidlower as advocates of the second.
For example, Sheidlower discusses a charge Simon makes against the editors of current dictionaries:
(quote)
Sheidlower denies Simon's charge that they are regarding as law whatever ordinary people say. "Absolutely untrue," he says. In fact, it's still the case that what the educated say is the law, because a language feature used only by the uneducated would always be described as just that." What Sheidlower means is that his dictionary makes the distinction between what is accepted in correct usage and what is still seen as "slang" or "informal."
(end quote)
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com
Top answer
[nq:1]PBS ("Public Broadcasting System," a government-owned network)[/nq] Oy! Roland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food. net is heavily filtered to remove spam.
- [nq:1]PBS ("Public Broadcasting System," a government-owned network)[/nq] Oy!
- Roland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food.
- net is heavily filtered to remove spam.
- If your message looks like spam I may not see it.
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75 Answers
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[nq:1]PBS ("Public Broadcasting System," a government-owned network)[/nq]
Oy!
Roland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food.
NB mail to my.spamtrap (at) verizon.net is heavily filtered to remove spam. If your message looks like spam I may not see it.
Oy!
Roland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food.
NB mail to my.spamtrap (at) verizon.net is heavily filtered to remove spam. If your message looks like spam I may not see it.
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[nq:1]Do You Speak American is a program which will appear on the US television network PBS ("Public Broadcasting System," a government-owned network)[/nq]
Fom the PBS website.
PBS, headquartered in Alexandria Va., is a PRIVATE, non-profit, media enterprise owned and operated by the nations 349 public television stations.
The Government does not own the PBS.
Fom the PBS website.
PBS, headquartered in Alexandria Va., is a PRIVATE, non-profit, media enterprise owned and operated by the nations 349 public television stations.
The Government does not own the PBS.
00
[nq:2]PBS ("Public Broadcasting System," a government-owned network)[/nq]
[nq:1]Oy![/nq]
Seconded. PBS is, in its own words, "a private, non-profit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 349 public television stations". Public broadcasting is "public" in the "noncommercial and concerned with the supposed public interest" sense.
Actually, PBS can be said to be a mix of
[nq:1]Oy![/nq]
Seconded. PBS is, in its own words, "a private, non-profit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 349 public television stations". Public broadcasting is "public" in the "noncommercial and concerned with the supposed public interest" sense.
Actually, PBS can be said to be a mix of
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[nq:2]PBS ("Public Broadcasting System," a government-owned network)[/nq]
[nq:1]Oy![/nq]
"Public Broadcasting *Service.* " I tried to find out if it had ever been named the "Public Broadcasting System," but was unable to do so. It certainly is referred to as such often enough on the Internet.
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com
[nq:1]Oy![/nq]
"Public Broadcasting *Service.* " I tried to find out if it had ever been named the "Public Broadcasting System," but was unable to do so. It certainly is referred to as such often enough on the Internet.
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com
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[nq:2]Do You Speak American is a program which will appear on the US television network PBS ("Public Broadcasting System," a government-owned network)[/nq]
[nq:1]Fom the PBS website. PBS, headquartered in Alexandria Va., is a PRIVATE, non-profit, media enterprise owned and operated by the nations 349 public television stations. The Government does not own the PBS.[/nq]
Interesting.
[nq:1]Fom the PBS website. PBS, headquartered in Alexandria Va., is a PRIVATE, non-profit, media enterprise owned and operated by the nations 349 public television stations. The Government does not own the PBS.[/nq]
Interesting.
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[nq:2]The Government does not own the PBS.[/nq]
[nq:1]Interesting. I took Roland Hutchinson's "Oy!" to be a comment on my having used "Public Broadcasting System" instead of "Public Broadcasting Service."[/nq]
No, I confess that that particular gnat escaped my strainer. As others correctly surmised, I was oying the camel of calling PBS "government- owned".
Roland Hutchinson
[nq:1]Interesting. I took Roland Hutchinson's "Oy!" to be a comment on my having used "Public Broadcasting System" instead of "Public Broadcasting Service."[/nq]
No, I confess that that particular gnat escaped my strainer. As others correctly surmised, I was oying the camel of calling PBS "government- owned".
Roland Hutchinson
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[nq:1]Do You Speak American is a program which will appear on the US television network PBS ("Public Broadcasting System," a ... advocate of the first (and others are cited) and Geoffrey K. Pullum and Jesse Sheidlower as advocates of the second.[/nq]
"Do You Speak American?" premieres on PBS this Wednesday, Jan. 5 (check your local listings). A good chance to hear from Messrs. Sheidlowe
"Do You Speak American?" premieres on PBS this Wednesday, Jan. 5 (check your local listings). A good chance to hear from Messrs. Sheidlowe
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[nq:2]Fom the PBS website. PBS, headquartered in Alexandria Va., is ... public television stations. The Government does not own the PBS.[/nq]
[nq:1]Interesting. I took Roland Hutchinson's "Oy!" to be a comment on my having used "Public Broadcasting System" instead of "Public Broadcasting Service."[/nq]
Since the others missed it, I'll Oy! the comma inside the ending quote mark. This has ha
[nq:1]Interesting. I took Roland Hutchinson's "Oy!" to be a comment on my having used "Public Broadcasting System" instead of "Public Broadcasting Service."[/nq]
Since the others missed it, I'll Oy! the comma inside the ending quote mark. This has ha
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[nq:2]Oy![/nq]
[nq:1]Seconded. PBS is, in its own words, "a private, non-profit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 349 public ... television stations that are owned by some state entity. However, I would assume that most PBS stations are not state-owned.[/nq]
And even the stations that are allegedly privately owned get a substantial portion of their budget from Government
[nq:1]Seconded. PBS is, in its own words, "a private, non-profit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 349 public ... television stations that are owned by some state entity. However, I would assume that most PBS stations are not state-owned.[/nq]
And even the stations that are allegedly privately owned get a substantial portion of their budget from Government
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[nq:2]Interesting. I took Roland Hutchinson's "Oy!" to be a comment on my having used "Public Broadcasting System" instead of "Public Broadcasting Service."[/nq]
[nq:1]Since the others missed it, I'll Oy! the comma inside the ending quote mark. This has happened here a couple of times recently.[/nq]
You mean the commas in the following? "('Public Broadcasting System,' a government-owned ne
[nq:1]Since the others missed it, I'll Oy! the comma inside the ending quote mark. This has happened here a couple of times recently.[/nq]
You mean the commas in the following? "('Public Broadcasting System,' a government-owned ne
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