(Yes, I know, it should be “smashes,” but the title is a comic book tribute.)
My fiance and I enjoy superhero movies, so we went to see The Incredible Hulk on the big screen. I recommend the movie — it captivated my attention. However, a repeated grammar error kept pulling me out of the movie. In academic terms, I experienced “communication noise” because it interfered with what I wanted to hear (in this case, what Bruce Banner was saying).
I wanted to follow what was happening in the lab scene, but all I could think was, “Data is? Data is? I can’t believe the scientist keeps saying ‘data is.’”
“Data,” like “media,” is a plural word. The error tore me out of the movie, and it took serious mental effort to shut down my inner dialog.
It’s funny too because I think back to teaching “data are” in my Public Relations Writing class at Maryland, and my students would jovially tease me about this finer point and playfully challenge me to come up with a sentence in which I would use a verb after the word “data.” Well, here it is on the big screen!
Sneak peak: Next week (not next post because I actually have two more Hulk public relations topics), I’ll tell you about the punctuation challenge I took on with my Advanced Public Relations Writing class here in Oregon. It involves Wham!, the band.
Readers, what examples of communication noise have you experienced? Here is another one that I experienced recently. I went to a restaurant, and the server, probably 10 years younger than I, called me “sweetie.” I heard nothing else she said.
Thank for pointing that out! I can’t stop telling my friends about this grammar mishap!
I love this post, Tiffany. I can particularly relate to the part about the waitress calling you “sweetie.” I worked at a company where my boss would say “thanks, hun” nearly 10 times a day. It drove me up the wall! Although I appreciated the thanks, I find it demeaning when people call me “sweetie” or “hun.” It’s not professional. I brought it up in my exit interview, and the HR manager didn’t seem to think it was a problem. I’m glad to hear someone else finds it inappropriate!
Oh, Tiffany – the “sweetie” and “hon” and “honey” greetings have been driving me crazy for years. I’ve had people assume it’s just because I’m a bit older, but I see nothing polite or cute about it. Those greetings are extremely patronizing and thoughtless. When I get a chance, I use those same greetings right back at those same people. When the shoe is on the other foot, sometimes you can make the point.
Same same for a checker at the grocery story looking at my check and saying, “Thank you, Kathy.” Finally, at one grocery store, I said, “I’m sorry, have we been introduced?” And the checker got a very shocked and insulted look on her face.
In our informal, hurried society, taking a moment to greet someone with genuine courtesy has begun to seem like a luxury and a rarity.
Sarah, thanks for spreading the word about “data are”!
Allie, I was surprised to hear that your former boss called you “sweetie” and “hon” in the workplace. And to make matters worse, you were not listened to about this issue in your exit interview. Wow! That is just incredible. Wake up, HR!
Kathy, I agree that objecting to “sweetie” and “hon” has nothing to do with age. You can see that spring 2008 graduate Allie believes this talk in the workplace is inappropriate too. Also, it’s great to see your new blog! I just subscribed.
[...] 26, 2008 by Tiffany Derville We are back to my Hulk theme this week! As mentioned in my earlier post, the Hulk movie was great, but the “data is” grammar mistake pulled me out of the [...]
It bothers me when in song lyrics, or comic routines – or even just regular speech, people reverse the words “never” and “really” (i.e. Chuck D from Public Enemy “Can I tell ‘em that I really never had a gun.” – never really?)
There are other word sets that get reversed often as well, like “Can’t just” or “Just can’t” – mean two totally different things.
I’m just sayin’.