Plain Text » I wish I’d never said that http://www.plain-text.co.uk Copywriting that means business Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:20:22 +0000 en hourly 1 007 parachutes into pointless language struggle http://www.plain-text.co.uk/007-parachutes-into-the-pointless-struggle-against-language-development http://www.plain-text.co.uk/007-parachutes-into-the-pointless-struggle-against-language-development#comments Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:31:04 +0000 Paul W http://www.plain-text.co.uk/?p=564 Only people with regional accents get acting jobs these days, moans Roger Moore in the Daily Mail,  complaining that his daughter is turned down for parts on account of her cut-glass diction. Claiming that people on children’s programmes talk a bit “like that” (like what, eh, Roger? C’mon, spit it out!) and that “proper English is disappearing”, Moore joins the ludicrous Queens English Society in pining for a very narrow,  personal ideal of what language should be.

In his case it seems to be harking back to a time when we were all tucked up in bed by a nice radio presenter who spoke “like thet” and when regional accents, in the acting world at least, denoted some sort of deviation from the ideal. You know the clichés: Birmingham – bit thick but nonetheless trustworthy; Liverpool – amusing but dodgy; London – also a bit dense,  possibly lovable but maybe a spiv; Northern – unsophisticated and almost certainly a bit aggressive.

Language, as it always does, has moved on — this time for the better. The fact that Brummies, Scousers, Cockneys and Woollybacks can all get acting jobs — and ones in which their accents no longer pigeonhole them — is something to be applauded. 007 should go back to fighting supervillains: better to be the dashing secret agent than another whingeing old git.

]]> http://www.plain-text.co.uk/007-parachutes-into-the-pointless-struggle-against-language-development/feed 0 Media training lessons evade army chief http://www.plain-text.co.uk/media-training-lessons-evade-army-chief http://www.plain-text.co.uk/media-training-lessons-evade-army-chief#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:00:36 +0000 Paul N http://www.plain-text.co.uk/?p=560 History shows that shell shock can make soldiers go mad. So is that what happened to General Stanley McChrystal, formerly top dog of the Nato war effort in Afghanistan when he allowed a Rolling Stone reporter to follow him for an entire month? Or had he started to believe his own publicity? After all, until the US magazine published its explosive profile, the American General had become accustomed to almost reverential reporting. He could say anything. Reporters would airbrush the words in return for future interviews. Until his luck ran out with the media he had been courting.

And when the luck deserted him, even Rolling Stone appeared unaware that it had a career-busting piece for its bumper summer issue. Instead an almost-naked Lady Gaga displaced blurb for the Afghan story almost entirely from the cover.

Although General McChrysal paid for the publicity with his job, he appears to have understood what he was doing, not during the time he enjoyed the company of a journalist, but in the days before publication. Neither he nor his staff objected when the profile was fact checked, a kindness that not all publications offer, of course. That means General McChrystal knew what he was saying and he was happy with it. Although he couldn’t unsay what had been said, he appears to have offered no clarification. No extra words that showed he was under pressure when he said what he shouldn’t have about his colleagues and allies.

And that’s what cost him his job.

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