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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread KEEP ACROSS #161953 09/06/06 12:02 AM Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8 S scribbler101 OP stranger OP scribbler101 stranger S Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8 I objected to the BBC World service using the phrase "keep across the latest economic indicators" in a programme trail, as I know not the term "keep across". They claim "While this is very much a conversational and colloquial turn of phrase it is a common one and its meaning is clear in the context in which it is used" What do those here think? Apologies if I have transgressed any local norms. My first post here. Cheers Scribbler Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: KEEP ACROSS #161954 09/06/06 02:45 PM Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 508 Metro Detroit (MI) N nancyk addict nancyk addict N Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 508 Metro Detroit (MI) >>its meaning is clear in the context in which it is used"<< Not to me. Welcome, Scribbler! Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: KEEP ACROSS #161955 09/06/06 03:19 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky Jackie Carpal Tunnel Jackie Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky Welcome aBoard, scribbler101. I cannot call you Scribbler: that name belongs to one whom I suppose will ne'er grace this forum again, but who has my heart forever. I've not heard 'keep across' either; from "the context" I'd guess that it equates to keep abreast of. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: KEEP ACROSS #161956 09/06/06 11:13 PM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Quote: >>its meaning is clear in the context in which it is used"<< Not to me. Welcome, Scribbler! Perhaps if we had more of the context. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: KEEP ACROSS #161957 09/07/06 12:56 PM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 1,055 Berlin B belligerentyouth old hand belligerentyouth old hand B Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 1,055 Berlin > Keep across I don't really get it - there are plenty of other ways of saying 'up-to-date', are there not? The only explanation for 'keep across' that I can think of is that if you are on the 'cutting-edge' you are logically 'across' the boundaries of the latest indocators and news. But is that really logical? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: KEEP ACROSS #161958 09/07/06 10:13 PM Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 British Columbia, Canada Z Zed Pooh-Bah Zed Pooh-Bah Z Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 British Columbia, Canada keeping across the cutting edge sounds a bit risky to me. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: KEEP ACROSS #161959 09/07/06 10:59 PM Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8 S scribbler101 OP stranger OP scribbler101 stranger S Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8 Hi all - thanks for the replies. The context is that I heard it on BBC world service and thought it odd there! See email discussion below:- Dear Steve That's it - "keep across". Not a phrase I am aware of. Can you cite examples of its usage? Surely "keep up with" is the normal usage? Its meaning is clear in context. But so would be any word you put in its place. "If you'd like to elephant the latest economic indicators". I googled "keep across" and got only 805 usages; mostly related to castles, storage, or crossings. There were a few usages as yours, but not from any authoritative source - saving one from the BBC! Best Steve -----Original Message----- From: Steve Martin [mailto:steve.martin@bbc.co.uk] Sent: 05 September 2006 10:00 To: stephen_l_phillips@talk21.com Subject: Language on the BBC Dear Stephen, Thank you for your email which has been passed to me. I have listened to the promotional trail you mention and the phrase used is "keep across the latest economic indicators". While this is very much a conversational and colloquial turn of phrase it is a common one and its meaning is clear in the context in which it is used. I don't agree that it has no place on the BBC although I accept it may not be the most elegant language we might have chosen. Yours sincerely, Steve. Steve Martin On air editor, BBC World Service -----Original Message----- From: Letters Worldservice Sent: 30 August 2006 11:28 To: Jonathan Reding; Steve Martin Subject: FW: Regards Audience Relations BBC World Service -----Original Message----- From: stephen_l_phillips@talk21.com [mailto:stephen_l_phillips@talk21.com] Sent: 28 August 2006 02:11 To: Letters Worldservice Subject: To BBC World Service Name Stephen Phillips Email stephen_l_phillips@talk21.com Comments I have just (02:00 BST 28/8/6) - and previously - heard a trail for bbc online asking me if I would like to "get across" economic information. The phrase "get across" does not form part of standard English; or of any variant I am aware of. Where do you get it from any why do you seek to promulgate it to your listeners; many of whom are seeking to inprove their comprehension of our language? Regards Stephen Phillips Tickbox YES Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: KEEP ACROSS #161960 09/08/06 01:20 AM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass Quote: The phrase "get across" does not form part of standard English; or of any variant I am aware of. Where do you get it from any why do you seek to promulgate it to your listeners; many of whom are seeking to inprove their comprehension of our language? so the original use was "get across"? as in "Our message will be very hard to get across." that's really a pretty common usage. and, I suppose, once you've gotten your message across, it then becomes a matter of keeping it across. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: KEEP ACROSS #161961 09/08/06 11:18 AM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 1,055 Berlin B belligerentyouth old hand belligerentyouth old hand B Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 1,055 Berlin > that's really a pretty common usage. and, I suppose, once you've gotten your message across, it then becomes a matter of keeping it across. Oh, now I get it, keep across. It's a bit of a mixture of 'keep abreast' and 'get across', huh. Regarding the BBC World Service: As much as I enjoy it, they should really have some more native speakers on I think, or at least people with a better command of the language. Of course it's good in a way that they are so inclusive and I welcome the fact that they have relaxed former RP standards, but I'm beginning to think of it as a foreign language channel. "Dis iz da Bee Bee See". 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