Obits - proper English?

gkainz

gkainz

Final Approach
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Greg Kainz
Why is a headline announcing someone has died always "<insert name here> dies." By the time we read it, it's past tense. They died. Always reads a little bit odd to me.

So, what would my 6th grade English teacher have to say about this? I'm not sure, because she died. A long time ago. :)
 
gkainz said:
Why is a headline announcing someone has died always "<insert name here> dies." By the time we read it, it's past tense. They died. Always reads a little bit odd to me.

So, what would my 6th grade English teacher have to say about this? I'm not sure, because she died. A long time ago. :)
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You’ve hit on one of my biggest pet peeves. It’s not just obituaries that use present tense for things that happened in the past. It seems that most headlines and news articles are written that way, and it really irks me. A relative of mine does the same thing. Completely incapable of using the past tense, even the events happened a long time ago. Says that it makes a better story that way. I strongly disagree.




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Well, excuse us!!!

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I guess we should use proper aviation terminology like Mark.
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@kayoh190 and I will consider ourselves admonished. Well, I assume he will. He has a dog for an avatar so who knows. Those types are strange.
 
gkainz said:
Why is a headline announcing someone has died always "<insert name here> dies." By the time we read it, it's past tense. They died. Always reads a little bit odd to me.

So, what would my 6th grade English teacher have to say about this? I'm not sure, because she died. A long time ago. :)
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You seem to be operating under the false assumption that a command of the English language is in any way relevant to newspaper operations.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Well, excuse us!!!

@kayoh190 and I will consider ourselves admonished. Well, I assume he will. He has a dog for an avatar so who knows. Those types are strange.
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I definitely consider myself admonished! Never really thought about the tense, honestly.
 
I think it's about breaking bad news to people gently. (I don't defend the action however)
Somehow its less harsh to say dies than 'is dead', I think.
For our society which has horrible understanding and acceptance of death.
 
Not to derail the subject, but usually in a discussion where a relative or close friend has died, I try to stay out of it the best I can. In my family growing up, news of an individual passing was met with a "nobody lives forever, at least they had a good life" kind of response. Which is usually misinterpreted as heartless when I render it so I tend to STFU.

And by the way I am reading the previous posts with interest.
 
"A man was shot dead today...."

If he was dead why did they shoot him..??
 
......because he wasn’t shot and wounded.
 
Clark1961 said:
Because he wasn't dead before they shot him...
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He was alive when shot, so the headline should read, "A live man was shot today.. then became dead.." :lol::lol:

Many years ago where I grew up the local newspaper headline read, "Holiday deaths fall short of goal..." I thought they should have at least added, "Reporters draw straw to see who drives into a tree..." :lol::lol:
 
Becoming dead happens to all of us. If it happens because of a gunshot then the newspapers make something of it for the headlines angle. Otherwise it hardly counts for the most part.
 
Zeldman said:
"A man was shot dead today...."

If he was dead why did they shoot him..??
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Because guns don’t kill people. People kill people. ;)

Why are people hanged instead of hung? I mean, if the Marshall brang someone to the gallows you’d consider them brung? Right? Even if they’d been kickin’ and screamin’ and you drug ‘em from the jailhouse, they’d still be hung ‘afore high noon.
 
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Can someone actually be dead? After you die, you cease to exist, so you can't be at all.

It's fair to say someone died, I don't think you can be dead.
 
FormerHangie said:
Can someone actually be dead? After you die, you cease to exist, so you can't be at all.

It's fair to say someone died, I don't think you can be dead.
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They were. Now they aren't. They're dead. QED
 
gkainz said:
Why is a headline announcing someone has died always "<insert name here> dies." By the time we read it, it's past tense. They died. Always reads a little bit odd to me.

So, what would my 6th grade English teacher have to say about this? I'm not sure, because she died. A long time ago. :)
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It's called "historical present" or "historic present," and it's actually considered by grammarians to be a respectable practice for certain purposes, newspaper headlines being among them.

http://www.grammar.net/presentaspast
 
MauleSkinner said:
You seem to be operating under the false assumption that a command of the English language is in any way relevant to newspaper operations.
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Nah, not so much. Reading what gets passed along as “journalism” lately quickly dispels that notion.
Mrs. Schmidt would have failed me in grade school if I presented the drivel and torture of the English language, improper grammar and misspelled words that passes for professional journalism now.
 
Saw this on Facebook...
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MauleSkinner said:
You seem to be operating under the false assumption that a command of the English language is in any way relevant to newspaper operations.
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Actually, you'd be surprised. I've known a few newspaper reporters and copy editors, and some of them have nearly gotten into fistfights about grammar and style. Most larger newspapers also have their own style manuals, as well as style manuals for any syndicated content they carry.

Rich
 
RJM62 said:
Actually, you'd be surprised. I've known a few newspaper reporters and copy editors, and some of them have nearly gotten into fistfights about grammar and style. Most larger newspapers also have their own style manuals, as well as style manuals for any syndicated content they carry.

Rich
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I wonder if those style manuals address things like trite, overused phrases. It drives me nuts that every older, successful person, or every building that has been around for a few decades is referred to as an "icon" or "iconic". This is something most people probably never noticed, but now that I mentioned it, I'll bet that a bunch of you will start noticing it too.
 
I'll know I'm really old when 1. I actually care about the contents of this thread and 2. I actually read obituaries on a regular basis.
 
Lachlan said:
Because guns don’t kill people. People kill people. ;)

Why are people hanged instead of hung? I mean, if the Marshall brang someone to the gallows you’d consider them brung? Right? Even if they’d been kickin’ and screamin’ and you drug ‘em from the jailhouse, they’d still be hung ‘afore high noon.
Click to expand...
 
gkainz said:
Nah, not so much. Reading what gets passed along as “journalism” lately quickly dispels that notion.
Mrs. Schmidt would have failed me in grade school if I presented the drivel and torture of the English language, improper grammar and misspelled words that passes for professional journalism now.
Click to expand...
Common core. Everything is correct so long as the proper narrative is promulgated. And by proper I mean leftist.
 
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JOhnH said:
I wonder if those style manuals address things like trite, overused phrases. It drives me nuts that every older, successful person, or every building that has been around for a few decades is referred to as an "icon" or "iconic". This is something most people probably never noticed, but now that I mentioned it, I'll bet that a bunch of you will start noticing it too.
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That is an iconic post.
 
steingar said:
I'll know I'm really old when 1. I actually care about the contents of this thread and 2. I actually read obituaries on a regular basis.
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You know when you are an old EAA member when the first thing you do when the latest copy of Sport Aviation arrives is go to the Gone West page.
 
paflyer said:
You know when you are an old EAA member when the first thing you do when the latest copy of Sport Aviation arrives is go to the Gone West page.
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I'm curious why the phrase is "gone West"? Living in Florida, AKA "God's waiting room", I would think "Gone South" would be more appropriate. I guess that going West, to California is a certain type of death though.
 
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