Life in North-Eastern US; the qualified statement
I am extremely uncertain of the truth of what I am going to say here because of a curious phenomenon that both I and an American guy that works in our lab have noticed in our experience with foreign languages (my experience with English and his experience with German). It happens to me quite often to find an American expression quite weird, and after I reflect on it a little bit I realize that it is almost word by word the same as the equivalent italian expression.
So now that I am writing about something that I found a bit remarkable in the English used by Rochesterians, the same phenomenon could be at play.
American society is quite complex and sophisticated, and has to deal every day with complex and sophisticated technology. In order to operate correctly technological tools that are essential for veryday life, it is necessary to be precise when communicating information about them; therefore, many statements need to have qualifications inside them. For example we would need a qualified statement to indicate which pesticides can be used on which produce and when and under which conditions. It seems to me that the use of qualified statements has passed on journalism and to ordinary conversation even when there is no need of it. When I will meet a clear example of what I mean, I will post it here. For the moment be happy with something taken from the "Campus Times" at UofR: I want to show that too much caution can lead to mistakes; it is a "Security update".
"A student was treated for a bloody lip after being attacked on the bus ride home from Senior Night early Friday morning, according to UR Security Investigator Dan Lafferty.
The victim stated that another person had punched him on the bus after an unidentified person called the attacker's girlfriend a derogatory name.
The suspect evidently believed that the victim had made the comment and initiated action. The victim was punched more than once."
There is in particular one detail that irks me a bit, and I do not say which one because I want to see whether other people find it wrong too.
So now that I am writing about something that I found a bit remarkable in the English used by Rochesterians, the same phenomenon could be at play.
American society is quite complex and sophisticated, and has to deal every day with complex and sophisticated technology. In order to operate correctly technological tools that are essential for veryday life, it is necessary to be precise when communicating information about them; therefore, many statements need to have qualifications inside them. For example we would need a qualified statement to indicate which pesticides can be used on which produce and when and under which conditions. It seems to me that the use of qualified statements has passed on journalism and to ordinary conversation even when there is no need of it. When I will meet a clear example of what I mean, I will post it here. For the moment be happy with something taken from the "Campus Times" at UofR: I want to show that too much caution can lead to mistakes; it is a "Security update".
"A student was treated for a bloody lip after being attacked on the bus ride home from Senior Night early Friday morning, according to UR Security Investigator Dan Lafferty.
The victim stated that another person had punched him on the bus after an unidentified person called the attacker's girlfriend a derogatory name.
The suspect evidently believed that the victim had made the comment and initiated action. The victim was punched more than once."
There is in particular one detail that irks me a bit, and I do not say which one because I want to see whether other people find it wrong too.
posted by JTS at
Sunday, June 10, 2007
8 Comments:
?
By
Mike Beversluis, at 11 June, 2007 09:23
It is a bit hidden, but it is a qualification and it is wrong too. I want to see whether anyone else sees it.
By
JTS, at 11 June, 2007 12:08
?
By
Anonymous, at 11 June, 2007 13:41
Um, there is nothing wrong with it. Perhaps you should post it on a German blog.
By
Anonymous, at 11 June, 2007 22:38
Ok, so here is my take.
"The suspect evidently believed that the victim had made the comment and initiated action".
The writer puts in this sentence a "disguised" qualification. "Suspect" here means, look, we do not say that this guy actually did it, because, you know, anyone is innocent until proved guilty. A few words after "The suspect ..." the sentence says "... initiated action". The suspect loses the simple quality of being a suspect and becomes the actual perpetrator: wrong in my view.
By
JTS, at 11 June, 2007 22:46
The suspect does not lose his quality of being "suspect" because the modifier "evidently" is used. "Evidently" can be applied to the suspect's supposed beliefs and to the suspect's supposed actions. Hence the sentence could as be interpreted as thus, "The suspect evidently believed that the victim had made the comment and evidently initiated action."
By
Anonymous, at 11 June, 2007 23:11
It is "evident" that you are not an affectionate reader of the "Campus Times", otherwise things like the following would not have escaped your attention (Security update of 3/8/07):
"A student exiting the Eastman School of Music annex building was robbed at gunpoint at 3:25 p.m. on Monday, according to UR Security Investigator Dan Lafferty.
The student was walking through Barrett alley when he was approached from behind by a group of four youths who attempted to engage the student in conversation. The student ignored them and tried to continue walking, but one of the suspects pulled out a handgun and demanded the student's money.
After the student surrendered the money, the suspects fled and the student entered the Eastman facility main building where he alerted Security and the Rochester Police Department."
At any rate, I want to find more authoritative examples.
By
JTS, at 12 June, 2007 12:00
Mr. Sardus:
No doubt your lexicological objections would be readily understood in Cagliari, but man, you're talking about Rochester!
By
Anonymous, at 12 June, 2007 23:18
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