It’a those damned cultural marxists. Stealing our commas, our grammar, our spelling, our women, our elections. And on the eve of our holiest day. Bastards.
Poor grammar is disappointing and decidedly distracting in formal audio reviews.
I find the majority of formal audio reviews across numerous publications to be easy reads. However, I can barely put together a coherent thought when reading anything by Jason Kennedy, editor of the-ear.net. It is as if he does not understand the limitation of use of a comma. Do the English really have that much of a different implementation of the english language versus Americans? Does anybody else struggle to read certain editors' work?
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personally, it doesn't bother me. i think poorly written reviews make the well written ones (admittedly rare!) stand out more. i'd agree some are too wordy, some are too nerdy, some are purple to the point of inducing nausea, some are apparently devoid of even a single coherent thought - but this is stereo equipment, not philosophy, so in reality the stakes are pretty low |
richopp and junkman, Thanks for those comments and contributions. You're apparently correct richopp. Most people have no shame concerning their bAd speech and grammar. We all know that there are many members here for whom English is a second language, so they don't count. However, there are many who are obviously not foreign who make all of the grade school errors that junkman cites and more. It is really hard to believe that men (or women) who have been able to afford systems costing tens of thousands of dollars have reached middle age and beyond without knowing the difference between then and than. As you say richopp, these days that's worn as a badge of honor. Anyone who actually cares about being correct is a silly nerd. |
I keep a list. brake vs break lose vs loose by vs bye vs buy there vs their vs they're aisle vs isle collage vs college passed vs past ben vs been an vs and ware vs wear worn vs warn threw vs through (thru) sell vs sale then vs than light vs lite too vs to vs two waist vs waste flower vs flour fair vs fare aloud vs allowed nada vs notta dam vs damn plain vs plane descent vs decent sore vs soar advice vs advise ad (abbreviation for advertisement) vs add wary vs weary latter vs ladder vein vs vane fourth vs forth (have a happy one either way) |
Ha-Ha! As professor, I can tell you that "grammatically correct" English is way over. Any combination of words and punctuation is now considered proper. People who are "edumacated" are viewed as "elites" and "snobs" and are thought to be subversives in today’s "I am a whole lot dumber than you are" competition. I think it is funny. I devoted my life to helping people communicate effectively, but today, a giant gun and a smart phone (guess they sprung full blown from an egg or something) is considered to be all you need to "communicate" with others. Soon, we will be a two-part country--those with an education like, oh, I don’t know, your DOCTOR, (who is an elitist snob who don’t no nothin’), and everyone else, who are the "real people" on the planet--they "keep it real," you know. No high-highfalutin’ talkin’ ’round here. We gotta get down in the gutter 'cause that’s REAL LIFE, baby. We deserve whatever climate change, fast food, and stupidity bring us, sorry to say. Oh, and as we found out during the pandemic, ANYONE can teach, so paying for teachers and schools is dumb. We should shut down all schools and school programs other than those that teach you how to make, steal ,whatever, as much MONEY as possible. Why else are you on the Earth other than to be a billionaire no matter what you have to do? Money is more important than ANYTHING, right? Happy "Independence Day!" |
Some errors that we blame on writers and editors may actually be the fault of "spellcheck" software. "Spellcheck" programs recognize only around 1,500 words, none of them naturalized from languages other than English, and demand that any word having a terminal "s" flourish an apostrophe. So even if we edit the writer, spellcheck can easily mis-edit our corrections. |
Writing on this forum is frequently very poor. Interestingly on this post about grammar I have carefully scanned everyone's writing and find only a single slip. That's the very commonplace and dreaded redundant apostrophe in the post above. Sorry papa, that's totally annoying. Must be the subject matter that's made everyone pull up his socks. Long may it continue. I'm going out to feed the chicken's. |
I am functionally blind and as a result most of the time I resort to voice activation. Many times it does not type what I say. Therefore, if you see comments from willgolf, know that I barely can see what I type. So if there are mistakes get over it. This thread should not be on this site anyway....can we stick to actual audio. |
The use of commas is the least of what bothers me in audio reviews online. Some writers are better than others. I consider Clement Perry, the Editor of Stereo Times, to be one of the very worst writers overall, but as an online publication I would have to give the prize to enjoythemusic.com. It seems that the editor accepts reviews from writers and then publishes them with no regard to spelling, punctuation or sentence structure. I frequently see missing words! It was also my understanding that an editor’s job was to edit the actual content and remove repetitive content or content that added nothing to the finished review. I recently read one on enjoythemusic in which the reviewer mentioned the beautiful build and finish of the cabinets of the speakers under review at least 4 times. I know that it may sound picky to criticize, and I have certainly been guilty of pointing out common errors members here make in threads, (and I do too!) but when an online publication makes serious mistakes like these on a regular basis, it’s disheartening. It really takes some of the pleasure out of reading, and seems to show that the editors look at the enterprise as not much more than a casual hobby. I think what is actually worse is the presentation of the so-called information in many reviews. So much of what some reviewers present as factual information is really just technobabble lifted directly from the brochures of the piece under review, liberally seasoned with little stories about the designer and what a great guy he is, and how he really cares about the music above all. (Yes Clement Perry, I’m talking about you) There are very few reviewers these days who I feel that I can trust to really get down to the business of a clearly written and sensible review that provides real and useful information and opinion, but fortunately there are still a few. |
As Paul Simon might have sang, there must be 50 ways to use a comma. Unless the little buggers sow unnecessary confusion, I don’t get exercised about them. But then, I enjoy William Blake’s decidedly ungrammatical use of punctuation to mark tempo. And I like subordinate clauses. Guess I’d make a lousy technical writer. |
I actually wrote my Linguistics Masters Thesis on the subject of English Grammar. And lemme' say (comma, comma down, doo-bee-doo-down-down), that I just love the creative ways writers deal with commas. Do they want to slow us down so that every fragment of their sentence is imbued with an air of crucial importance? Is the writer just plain punctilious & stuffy? Do they completely eliminate commas to lend teenage enthusiasm & breathlessness? Let grammatical freedom ring. |
Most reviews are for advertising purposes only. Some might try to entertain as well. I can’t say I struggle to read any of them, not even the frankly unpleasantly dishonest Darko, but most are as dull as ditchwater. Kennedy seems to be one of those steady pros who gets the job done. The kind proprietors like, a steady pair of hands. He can’t write for toffee but he seems to be aware of that. "I started reviewing when I joined Hi-Fi Choice magazine for its transition from an A5 to an A4 monthly publication in 1987. By dint of persistence I was made Editor and stayed until 2001." On the other hand I still enjoy reading Ken Kessler but his opiniated articles have little or nothing to do with my consumer decisions. Here’s an extract from one of his latest posts on Soundstage HiFi. "Ken Kessler’s New Stereo System: Part One Here’s where it gets nasty, though—and why audiophiles are considered to be the meanest, most tight-fisted pricks on the planet: back in ’81, precious few “normal” people, as opposed to pre-conditioned hi-fi enthusiasts, balked at scraping together £299. Today? They’d expect to pay the same! Tell a civilian that an equivalent hi-fi system should cost £1400, and they’ll call you a rip-off artist." https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/international/soundstage-uk/1564-ken-kesslers-new-stereo-sy... |
There is no excuse in this modern age. There is a program called "Grammarly" that is available free of charge to those who want it. https://www.grammarly.com/native/windows They have an advanced version that is not free that helps one to construct better sentences too. Frank |
Do you remember an ezine called "Stereo Mojo"? They've been gone for awhile but I remember cringing virtually every time I read one of their show reports. It wasn't just comma misuse but every imaginable form of grammatical and mechanical errata known to mankind was there readily on display. I couldn't believe any of it was ever proofread. BTW, the emperor of comma abuse was none other than Harry Pearson. He slung them around with such abandon that it would have made James Joyce blush. I remember remarking at one time (possibly on the AG forum) that with his passing there would now be enough of a supply available so that the rest of the world could go back to using them. |