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TPO | 03.10.08 – 12:30 am:
No offence taken – as well as making me feel silly your comments made me laugh… 🙂
webb’s with david on
ifill. see his blog, which looks pretty balanced to me.
Typical Today programme manipulation – Boris Johnson won’t appear on the programme so we’ve been forced to interview David Blunkett! Not David Davis or Michael Howard or any other suitable Conservative spokesman. No they have to interview a Blairite who made a political appointment.
Thanks, TPO, for the info on Ian Blair. It’s all more or less as I suspected.
henryflower: You’ve got the juvenile Webb monster to a T. Would just add to the summary of his spiteful petty misogynistic character, that he is a poor communicator and can’t write for toffee. Somehow, he managed to get a job in journalism despite being semi-literate and unable to grasp the essentials of good communication or master the use of English vocabulary, grammar, spelling and punctuation.
Millie Tant – you’re dead right, but I’m going to have to take violent issue with you regarding your failure to use the so-called ‘Oxford Comma’ which would change your final sentence thus:
“[…] or master the use of English vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and punctuation.”
The Oxford comma, as you are probably aware, eliminates ambiguity concerning the possible eliding or linking of the final two items in any list, which can often otherwise read as though they are being presented as a pair.
Wikipedia offers the following examples of such an ambiguity:
“To my parents, Ayn Rand and God.”
“Betty, a maid and a rabbit.”
Also, the following hilarious example of ambiguity, which would not be resolved by the Oxford comma:
“highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector.”
He’s just risen in my estimation.
henryflower,
I have nothing in principle against the Oxford comma. That example is either a small oversight or even a matter of preferred style (arguable whether it was really needed there.)
What I am talking about with the Webb monster are far bigger liberties or failings with punctuation, more glaring errors such as plain wrong use of words, misspellings, bad syntax, poor expression, lack of clarity, failure to communicate meaning, information and so on. He is sloppy, lazy and undisciplined.
Mark Mardell or Dennis Murray or Paul Mason will have a few errors here and there too, but they know how to put a good, clear English sentence together. They are excellent communicators of meaning and information.
That’s a good one about Mandela.
…more glaring errors such as plain wrong use of words, misspellings,
Millie Tant | 03.10.08 – 7:02 pm | #
It can sort of matter, especially when coming from one of the world’s biggest news outlets…
Reshuffle Questions
Michael CrickFri 3 Oct 08, 05:54 PM
‘..it partly answers those Brown critics – of left and right – who have long said the Prime Minister should be much more inconclusive,’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/michaelcrick/2008/10/reshuffle_questions.html
Peter: that “inconclusive” howler is just the sort of thing I meant about Webb’s uncertain grasp of vocabulary.
It is not uncommon to see things like that on the BBC news website these days.