|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
No point in criticizing a usage based on one's willful misunderstanding of it.
Faldo hates when people do that.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Quote:
Or you can use common sense and interpret it as meaning that they spend two hours watching TV as opposed to 48 minutes being read to. No point in criticizing a usage based on one's willful misunderstanding of it.
Well, *my common sense tells me this means kids spend less time, i.e., 48 minutes, watching TV when they are also (at a different) time being read to.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
If that's the case then the sentence wasn't written very well. So now I'm with Myridon.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
Quote:
Quote:
Or you can use common sense and interpret it as meaning that they spend two hours watching TV as opposed to 48 minutes being read to. No point in criticizing a usage based on one's willful misunderstanding of it.
Well, *my common sense tells me this means kids spend less time, i.e., 48 minutes, watching TV when they are also (at a different) time being read to.
The sentence may not be well written but it doesn't stand this interpretation, surely? That would require the sentence to have included another word:
They average about two hours of screen time, compared with 48 minutes when also being read to.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Quote:
They average about two hours of screen time, compared with 48 minutes when also being read to.
Wull … that's why it's not well written. The whole concept of being read to was just pulled out of the blue with no hint as to how it related to the subject at hand.
And my apologies to Myridon for getting all haughty and stuff.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
Quote:
Quote:
They average about two hours of screen time, compared with 48 minutes when also being read to.
Wull … that's why it's not well written. The whole concept of being read to was just pulled out of the blue with no hint as to how it related to the subject at hand.
And my apologies to Myridon for getting all haughty and stuff.
I don't get that at all - I'm still with the common sense you abandoned a while ago! The sentence, albeit not charming, offers a straightforward time comparison: 2 hours in front of a screen, 48 mins being read to. It coulda been 73 minutes picking their nose but. The comparitor needs no further logical or linguistic introduction. Common sense supplies the assumed link: 2 sources of stimulus for the child.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
I still don't get it, mav. Why would you read to a child while the TV is on? Is that what the research is saying? What does that prove?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
I'm with Anna on this one. kids who get read to watch 48 minutes; those who don't get read to watch 2 hours.
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,592 Likes: 1
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,592 Likes: 1 |
That's what I thought it meant, too, after putting it through the but-it-isn't-a-very-clear-sentence-is-it filter.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 557
addict
|
addict
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 557 |
Quote:
I'm with Anna on this one. kids who get read to watch 48 minutes; those who don't get read to watch 2 hours.
Yes, sorry for being overly literal then leaving the room. Certainly this is the what the writer meant. The problem is that it says nothing as to how the two things are related. Does this imply that parents are reading to the children for the other 72 minutes or can the parents read for 5 minutes during breakfast and somehow reduce post-dinner TV watching? Without more complete data, this is as nonsensical a statement as the oft quoted correlation between safety pin usage and car accidents.
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,421
Members9,182
|
Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
0 members (),
846
guests, and
4
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|