Multiple noir shots plus something that drives me nuts
Meanwhile, here are
Labels: noir photos, photography, things that drive me nuts
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 12:16 AM
Wednesday, March 04, 2015
Meanwhile, here are
About Me
- Name: Peter Rozovsky
- Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
This blog is a proud winner of the 2009 Spinetingler Award for special services to the industry and its blogkeeper a proud former guest on Wisconsin Public Radio's Here on Earth. In civilian life I'm a copy editor in Philadelphia. When not reading crime fiction, I like to read history. When doing neither, I like to travel. When doing none of the above, I like listening to music or playing it, the latter rarely and badly. Click here to find an independent bookstore near you.
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13 Comments:
I understand your annoyance, but I guess I just take as shorthand for "more than several times but as yet we really don't know exactly how many yet." If they do know how many times, they should just say the number.
I particularly like that first photo.
At least it's not as bad as people saying or even writing "a myriad of".
Myriad is a synonym of "many" or "multiple", so "a myriad of" translates as "a many of".
I think somewhere along the line "myriad" got confused with "plethora".
Seana, thanks for the kind words on the photo. I find it harder to accept the argument for "multiple" than I do your compliment, though. I take "shot multiple times" for "that's what the cop said when he read it to me from the police report." Where does "several" stop and "multiple" begin?
Especially galling is the "shot multiple times in the arm, chest, and leg" construction. If the victim was shot in three places, we know he was shot more than once, the single-bullet theory aside. "Multiple" is even more unnecessary than usual in this case.
I don't know where several stops and multiple begins, but I do know that they conjure up different images as to the intensity of the shooting.As I said before, though, I do think if it's known how many times the person was actually shot, they should just report the number.
Mel: So many (apparently) poorly read and impressionable reporters ay my newspapers had been writing "a myriad of" that the editor in charge of such matters had to sent out a note reminding the staff of the word's correct usage. Why "myriad" should find a place in straight news stories more than once every 10,000 or so years is another matter.
I suspect you're right about confusion of "plethora" and "myriad," but "plethora" in a news story suggest to me a reporter reaching for poetic effect and falling way, way short.
Seana, I can well understand that the reporter and even the police officer might not know how many times the victim was shot (and I hope that no reporter ever used "multiple" in a story without fist having asked "how many?")
I should look for and show you examples of "multiple" that I come across at work to demonstrate that the word is virtually always unnecessary as reporters use it. I shall try to remember to do so later this week.
The effective and disciplined use of language is in decline. Oh, if only people would return to Strunk and White, and then consult Orwell's Politics of the English Language.
And if I hear the word "like" in spoken English one more time -- although I think I hear it multiple dozens of times an hour on campus -- I think I will become homicidal, filling someone with multiple gunshots. Like, yeah!
I love photos that engage. These give rise to a bit of delicious anxiety. If I were on these streets I would be looking behind me and listening for footsteps.
I hope some publisher is looking and they choose one for a cover and sell multiple copies of the book.
RTD, you're a grumpy old man and a stick-in-the-mud. You're also entirely right.
I have come to realize in recent years that my job gives me extra insight into how American English usage is changing. Not all the changes are for the better.
Mary Beth: Many thanks. And I like "delicious anxiety." I may borrow it as a selling point for these shots.
Thank you, Peter, for the kind words.
Are you selling any of your Philly photos? We are moving into a new house (mid-century modern) and looking for a few shots of Philly that would play to that period. I love your work. How big can you blow them up and still retain the quality. (aa2579@wayne.edu)
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