Friday November 23, 2007
Wrong use of words on Aussie TV
By STEPHEN KAU
ONE of my pet hates is the apparent ignorance of the English language that many television newsreaders and commentators in Australia exhibit practically every day.
Now, you would imagine that these so-called professionals of Australia’s top TV networks know how to speak precisely, grammatically, right? Huh!
Of course, I realise it may not be Mr High-Profile Anchorman’s fault. Not entirely, at any rate. It may be the fault of the writer(s) of the day’s TV news. The point is, irrespective of whose fault it is, it shouldn’t happen, particularly in a TV network’s flagship programme.
Take, as an example, the newsreaders’ misuse of “between”. Just about every anchorman/woman and the reporters of every TV station in Sydney have proven they don’t know the definition of “between”.
The dictionary defines this word as “in the middle of two”. The “two” can be in space, for example, boxes in a room, or can be in time, e.g. your mother’s birthday and Christmas. Yet I’ve lost count of the number of times TV station staff say “in between”.
Why?! After all, as the saying goes, “Between the devil and the deep, blue sea” (in some parts of the world, the saying is “Between a rock and a hard place”) – and nobody ever says “In between the devil, etc”. So why insert the “in” in front of the “between” when using this word generally?
Don’t they realise they are, in fact, saying “in in the middle of”? Obviously not.
The incorrect use of “meanwhile” irritates me, too.
There are two meanings to this word. The less common reference: An occurrence between an earlier event and a later happening. For example:
The ship set sail in March and docked in July. Meanwhile (or “In the meantime”), on board the vessel, the crew scrubbed the deck.
The more common meaning of the word is: Something happening in one place at the same time something else is taking place elsewhere. For example:
The school’s teachers were having their weekly staff meeting in the hall. Meanwhile, the students were playing in the football field.
Yet, I’ve shaken my head whenever a TV newsreader said, for example:
“Mr So-and-So was seen last night partying with two stunning blondes. Meanwhile, earlier this morning, his wife was talking to her divorce lawyer.”
Inexcusable lack of knowledge.
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