Hey, CNN!
June 28th, 2008 - 4:00 pm
When discussing a person’s right to own guns, the proper word is “bear” not “bare” … OK? Having the right to bare arms, which we also possess, would mean the right to wear sleeveless shirts. The right to bear arms is the right to own and use guns.
Yes, CNN used the wrong word on the graphic accompanying their story on gun ownership. If they can’t even get the language right, why should I trust them to get the news right? This is just one of the multitude of reasons I am sick to death of TV news. The levels of stupidity in the TV news industry is ridiculous.
The right to bare arms. Ugh. 
7 Responses to “Hey, CNN!”
You’ve given me a great idea for a photo-toon post!
You know its not just CNN… A classic example was Hannah’s high school had a sign that said “No Smoking is Prohibited on this Campus”. To me, that says that all students have the right to smoke on campus regardless of what the state law says. Go to http://banterist.com and check out his Grammar Cop. He usually has a mix of stores, ads, signage of all sorts to show just how bad grammar has gotten in this country.
Grammar just is not emphasized in school today the way it was when you and I went to school. Too many people depend on spell check and grammar check from MSWord to care. No one wants to learn the rules when it is put in a nice package for us where we don’t have to think about it. I spent last semester grading papers for a intro class and I was appalled that these “kids” were able to score high enough on any test that required a writing sample to get into college. I want to know when chat speak became acceptable in a paper (and I saw more examples of that than I care to think about along with using ‘u’ for ‘you’ and ‘l8r’ for Later.
*getting off my soapbox now*
I take it you’ve seen http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/
I spent last semester grading papers for a intro class and I was appalled that these “kids” were able to score high enough on any test that required a writing sample to get into college.
I remember my first day as a TA for a freshman college English class. Fifteen minutes in, I realized half the class was unsure of what nouns and verbs were. It made me want to weep and pull out my hair.
I can’t believe kids use chat speak in papers. In truth, I can’t believe people use chat speak for chatting, email, and texting either. It isn’t like it’s all that much trouble to use real English.
My inner editor can barely stand to read or watch news anymore, because I see so many mistakes. Stupid mistakes too, like using the wrong word that happens to sound like the right word. Almost can’t blame young people for not being able to communicate in proper English when the media doesn’t seem to bother. This also makes me want to weep and pull out my hair.
And thanks for the links, you two! Hadn’t seen those before, and they are both hilarious. Hilarious and sad at the same time.
I read one piece on the Banterist and was completely hooked.
http://www.banterist.com/archivefiles/000286.html
I laughed so hard and of course had to send this to almost everyone I knew. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do
A few months back, another Oregon soldier died in Iraq. On the LOCAL news, they spelled Oregon like this: Oregen
Okay, it’s a spelling thing, not a grammer thing, but when people in your own state can’t spell it, and they’re in the media business, it’s just sad.
It can always get worse.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7481715.stm