So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[BobHufford]

...they sure as hell don’t show the principal characters doing their taxes or sitting around waiting for another customer to roll in.

This one did ... sort of (and is no longer a show -- I do miss it).

PBS television series "A Chef's Life". https://www.pbs.org/food/shows/a-chefs-life/

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^
I wasn’t familiar. Just looked it up. It ran 61 episodes, which is 41 more than “Market Warriors.”

I’m left to wonder if it came to an end because those involved decided that it had run its course (I respect show people who know when to drop the curtain) or if that decision got made for them. Was it still bringing in the eyeballs?

 

[Edward]

I've appeared on a PBS "reality-based" show a couple of times, and can tell you first hand that everything you see on these types of programs is very carefully staged to the point where there's essentially nothing that isn't manipulated. Every reaction, every expression, every pose, every moment is rehearsed, filmed from multiple angles, reshot, and edited. While the programs aren't *scripted,* as in there are no lines to learn, you're told by the director the gist of what you're supposed to say and you ad-lib the exact words, but if they don't get the phrasing they wanted they'll make you do it again, for as many times as it takes to fit the scenario they've already worked out. It always amazes me that anyone, anywhere, thinks that any of this stuff is spontaneous, but I guess studio technique still remains a mystery to the average basic cable viewer.

The term "scripted reality" emerged in the industry here a few years ago. For me it perfectly captures the likes of Made in Chelsea which come over like a badly acted soap-opera trying to fake reality. Which is basically what they are.

^^^^^
Remember “Market Warriors,” the short-lived PBS spinoff of “Antiques Roadshow”?

The premise was sending four professional appraisers to flea markets and the like to buy stuff to later be sold at auction. The appraiser who saw the greatest profit (or, often as not, the smallest loss) “won” that episode’s “war.”

Its fatal flaw was in its being *too* realistic. The takeaway for most minimally insightful viewers would be that if you’re looking to make money in the antiques/collectibles/vintage biz, you’d be wise not to quit your day job. It had me bouncing between boredom and depression. That’s not the key to success in the entertainment business.

“Roadshow” works because each hour-long episode has literally thousands of items (and their owners) to pick from. Only one small fraction of 1 percent of the stuff that comes through the door finds its way to your TV. So yeah, it’s “reality,” but a highly edited reality.

Market Warriors sounds like Bargain Hunt in the UK. One of the big name, celebrity antique dealers was offered the presenting gig at the off but turned it down, because he said they got it the wrong way round: the people who sell at those fairs buy at the auctions, which is why it is so rare to make money. The interesting bit is when you see the difference in price between what they pay at auction and the fair-stall price, the mark-up is significant. (Of course much of that is paying for time, travel, and all the other overheads...).

 

[Hercule]

Um, how old must I get to be addressed with "Sie" in the music-instrument store and not with "Du"?

Such is the de-formalization of German society. Perhaps you should snap back at such casualness.

I had an aesthetics teacher in grad school. A old German fuddy dutty. Actually I think he may have been Viennese, but he acted Prussian, anyway close enough. He would always admonish me in his thick German accent "Reverance Hercule, more reverance!" Oh, those were the days...

 

[Edward]

Such is the de-formalization of German society. Perhaps you should snap back at such casualness.

I had an aesthetics teacher in grad school. A old German fuddy dutty. Actually I think he may have been Viennese, but he acted Prussian, anyway close enough. He would always admonish me in his thick German accent "Reverance Hercule, more reverance!" Oh, those were the days...

It's fascinating to read about this sort of thing in languages which have that distinction between different forms of "you". Where I grew up in Ireland, we had 'you' for the singular and then (informally, we'd have been roundly told off for it in school) 'yous' or 'yiz' for you plural. No formal / informal version in English. The 'plural used in a singular context' does occur when talking in the third person... if you are referring to a person whose identity and gender remain unknown, 'they' has been commonly used for a very long time indeed where, gender known, we might use 'he' or 'she'. I assume this is the language root for the adoption of 'they, their' as pronouns by those who now identify as gender non-binary. It would be interesting to see if, over time, 'they' evolved into being a default option for anyone who had not specified a preference for he/she, in a similar vein to the use of 'Ms' as a polite default unless or until the lady concerned indicates a preference for Miss or Mrs. That's come about in a relatively short period of time: I remember we had a student teacher came in in the late eighties whom we were instructed to call 'Ms'. It stuck out as unusual then, but not now.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

It's fascinating to read about this sort of thing in languages which have that distinction between different forms of "you". Where I grew up in Ireland, we had 'you' for the singular and then (informally, we'd have been roundly told off for it in school) 'yous' or 'yiz' for you plural. No formal / informal version in English. The 'plural used in a singular context' does occur when talking in the third person... if you are referring to a person whose identity and gender remain unknown, 'they' has been commonly used for a very long time indeed where, gender known, we might use 'he' or 'she'. I assume this is the language root for the adoption of 'they, their' as pronouns by those who now identify as gender non-binary. It would be interesting to see if, over time, 'they' evolved into being a default option for anyone who had not specified a preference for he/she, in a similar vein to the use of 'Ms' as a polite default unless or until the lady concerned indicates a preference for Miss or Mrs. That's come about in a relatively short period of time: I remember we had a student teacher came in in the late eighties whom we were instructed to call 'Ms'. It stuck out as unusual then, but not now.

Once upon a time in English "you" and "ye" were plural while "thou" and "thee" were singular. It's a mystery to me why these distinctions disappeared and how vigorously we English speakers strive to replace them.

To add to the Irish plural forms you cite, in the U.S. we have "y'all" in the South, "youse" in the neighborhood of New York City, and from my own western Pennsylvania, "yuns" (alternately "yinz").

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Irish "yous" is pretty clearly the root of the Northeastern-American "youse," or as it comes naturally to me, "yuz," given the heavy influence of the Irish diaspora on our local tongue. "Allayuz" may not be as musical as "y'all," but I love it just the same.

 

[tonyb]

I will not live long enough to abide referring to any individual by a plural pronoun, as some insist I do.

I wouldn’t object to a gender-neutral singular.

 

[Hercule]

I will not live long enough to abide referring to any individual by a plural pronoun, as some insist I do.

I wouldn’t object to a gender-neutral singular.

It's all getting out of hand in my opinion. I thank my lucky stars that I no longer teach and don't have to deal with such stupidity in the classroom. That said, I do quite like the royal "we" though.

As for Ms.: I seems that any more, at least in the circles we find ourselves in, we tend to refer to all the women we deal with as "Miss". Unless obviously and decidedly older or in a position of certain respect It's probably just laziness, certainly not out of any lack of respect. Even the 90 year old neighbor we refer to as Miss So-and-so. She gives me hell when I call her "Mrs ..." "Thats my mother-in-law!" she scolds me.

 

[tonyb]

It's all getting out of hand in my opinion. I thank my lucky stars that I no longer teach and don't have to deal with such stupidity in the classroom. That said, I do quite like the royal "we" though.

As for Ms.: I seems that any more, at least in the circles we find ourselves in, we tend to refer to all the women we deal with as "Miss". Unless obviously and decidedly older or in a position of certain respect It's probably just laziness, certainly not out of any lack of respect. Even the 90 year old neighbor we refer to as Miss So-and-so. She gives me hell when I call her "Mrs ..." "Thats my mother-in-law!" she scolds me.

“Miss” is a Southernism, ain’t it? It’s an honorific, or so it that’s how I’ve heard it used. The Southern black family two doors up have their kids referring to the old gal whose house is between ours and theirs as “Miss Ellen.”

One good thing to be said for this place: It isn’t exclusively left, right, or center, and the (sometimes) enforced ban on discussions of contemporary politics helps keep it that way. At least it isn’t an echo chamber, as so many online “communities” are. Hell, some people can’t resist inserting their political views into groups devoted to Norwegian enamelware or antique Persian rugs. I participate in such groups, and without vigilant moderation they become cesspools.

 

[Zombie_61]

It's all getting out of hand in my opinion. I thank my lucky stars that I no longer teach and don't have to deal with such stupidity in the classroom...

I agree. I do my best to show the proper level of respect to anyone/everyone that I interact with, but when some child celebrity insists we completely reinvent the structure of the languages we've been using for generations just to accommodate their selfish personal psychology, I'm out.

...That said, I do quite like the royal "we" though...

As do I, when it's reserved for a deserving moment. It's much like cursing in that if you constantly pepper your dialogue with it, it loses it's intended effect and has little to no impact. But reserve it for the proper time, and it can be like a punch to the gut.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

I will not live long enough to abide referring to any individual by a plural pronoun, as some insist I do.

I wouldn’t object to a gender-neutral singular.

English already has a gender-neutral singular pronoun, "it".

 

[LizzieMaine]

I always pronounced "Miss" as "Mizz" even before "Ms." existed, so I never noticed anyway. I prefer Ms. for myself simply because I'm neither Mrs. or a Miss, and if a title has to be used then a noncommittal one is as good as any. I'd rather not use one at all, though, it always makes me feel like I'm reading a foreclosure notice when I see it in print.

Speaking of southernisms, "Y'all" is fine coming from a Southerner, it's their native language. But it annoys me beyond all annoyance when I hear it coming from a Northerner -- it sounds phony, affected, and twee. I can understand why it's caught on on the internet as a gender-inclusive alternative to "You guys" or whatever, but it still irritates me unreasonably when I see it used that way -- I wish there was something less regionally-coded than that.

As far as pronouns go, I have a young person very dear to me who goes by them/they and I have *no problem with that at all.* They're more important to me than any g-d pedantic "rules of grammar."

 

[tonyb]

English already has a gender-neutral singular pronoun, "it".

Yes, of course. But I’m confident that a singular person wishing to be referred to as “they” would blow their/its top if called “it.”

 

[tonyb]

It’s mandatory AND required for that face protection to enter.

 

[Zombie_61]

But what if you only need to grab the fire extinguisher? And why does the poorly worded sign have a Walgreen's logo on it?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Looks like the part of the pharmacy where the hard drugs are kept. Hopefully the opioid pushers who break in to steal the Oxycocet will mask up.

 

[tonyb]

…And why does the poorly worded sign have a Walgreen's logo on it?

They’ve dropped the apostrophe, as has Albertsons.

 

[Fifty150]

The Angels did as well. Now it's simply HELLS. No apostrophe. So there are multiple hells. That's more in line with the Buddhist thought there there are many hells.

 

[Zombie_61]

They’ve dropped the apostrophe, as has Albertsons.

The Angels did as well. Now it's simply HELLS. No apostrophe...

Okay, so we're now using plural terms to describe single persons, and apostrophes are optional? And people wonder why I'm always angry.