#82883
10/04/2002 4:30 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
Well, in what I presume is the result of an automated system which substitutes PC terms in news article drafts, today's local paper reports on the Ray Bradbury classic, Fahrenheit 451. According to the article, the book is the story of "a firefighter" charged with burning books.
Huh. Substituting "firefighter" for "fireman" takes the sense out of the term as used in the book. Shame.
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#82884
10/04/2002 4:43 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Can you source this, Sparteye? Was it a wire story or locally generated?
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#82885
10/04/2002 5:10 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
the story of "a firefighter" charged with burning books.
If a firefighter is one who takes part in a firefight...
I don't think it would be necessary to postulate an automatic word substitutor. We do it our ownse'f's all the time. It's not unknown for blacks with no relation to the Americas at all to be referred to as African-Americans in the US press.
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#82886
10/04/2002 5:55 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
Why do you make the presumption this abomination was done by an automated system?
TEd
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#82887
10/04/2002 5:58 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
You're a cut above chopped liver , Faldage.
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#82888
10/04/2002 6:12 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
TEd
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#82889
10/04/2002 6:12 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Denn alles Fleisch, es ist foie gras.
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#82890
10/04/2002 6:57 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
hehehe  You guys are too much.
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#82891
10/04/2002 8:10 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
With what the New Jersey State Poet Laureate, Amiri Baraka, is going through right now, should I be surprised?  If a firefighter is somebody who ignites books to destroy them, then the firefighter is fighting the scourge of free thought, evidently....they sure ain't fighting fire! I wonder if Ray Bradbury knows about this? I'm sure he'd be outraged and demand it to cease immediately! Burn, PC, Burn!  So, if automated, does it then turn historic names like Harriet Tubman into Harriet Tubfighter? Geez!
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#82892
10/04/2002 8:31 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872 |
Isn't irony ironic ? The excesses of a sterile, politically correct society was the point of Bradbury's book. _______________________ ______________________
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#82893
10/04/2002 8:56 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508 |
>>Tubfighter?<<
C'mon, Juan, wouldn't the *more correct term be Tubperson?
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#82894
10/04/2002 11:31 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
It was a locally written story, and the paper does not include all its content on its website, so no joy.
I speculated that the "correction" was automatic because it was so ignorant, and the writer of the article does not usually appear to be ignorant, and because changing "fireman" to "firefighter" is exactly the type of term-management an auto system would impose.
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#82895
10/05/2002 1:16 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872 |
Sparteye, does that newspaper have an e-address for comments and queries? And if they answer our query without a full apology I would bet that we could send them some nice pointed comments. _______________________  _______ ____________________
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#82896
10/05/2002 3:11 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
The paper is the Lansing State Journal. The usage appeared in the October 4, 2002, edition, in the Living section of the paper, and was entitled "Book it: '451' will give city quick lift".
The Journal's website is www.lsj.com
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