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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To expect a newspaper to not use slang in a serious news article

40 replies

lucyellensmum · 08/09/2007 21:30

I dont usually get all precious about the English language, on account of the fact that mine is pretty rubbish. However, i picked up a copy of the Sun in the hospital waiting room yesterday, i was trying to keep up with what was happening to the poor Mc Cann family. Throughout the artical, the police were referred to as cops.
. I do appreciate that the Sun is not exactly a broadsheet and the news is presented in a, how can i say without causing offence, dumbed down context. But Cops???? This is not only slang, but almost a humourous description of the police and i actually found it inappropriate in this instance. I find it a little patronising towards its readers too, the assumption that they would rather read slang than correct English. It is not like police is a difficult word is it. Thats it, rant over.

OP posts:
Bouncingturtle · 09/09/2007 08:44

The Sun is a newspaper???? I thought it was a comic lol
Yes you are being unreasonable....

lucyellensmum · 09/09/2007 09:44

girls girls! Don't take on so!!! Firtsly, i was only reading the "comic" whilst i sat and waited for my mum to have an x-ray after sitting in a side room of A&E for three hours. So i guess desperation got the better of me. I daresay i haven't read the paper in the past 30 years, since I was six so would not have expected that,see how out of touch i am donnie yeah right, of course i'd have expected that.

PMSL about the headlines, this is almost as good as daily mail bashing, which incedentally, i would chose the Sun over any day of the week.

LewisFan you make a very good point there about the tabloids, i find the broadsheets hard work actually as you definately cannot get through an artical quickly enough to get the general gist, in the rush that us mums are usually in. Wouldnt it be great to have a paper somewhere in between that was easy to read but didnt patronise its readership with shite English and joke stories.

PS - i've never actually been able to complete the sun crossword, not even with the quick clues

OP posts:
Bouncingturtle · 09/09/2007 09:47

Probably because you are far too intelligent and the clues are too obvious

stepfordwife · 09/09/2007 13:37

most people who say they hate the sun are quite happy to read other people's copies, in the doctor's waiting room , over a tutting commuter's shoulder on the tube..etc
or is it ok to read it as long as you don't actually buy it?

lucyellensmum · 09/09/2007 13:48

thats exactly right stepford, i have even found myself reading it in the cafe, but i err towards the mirror. Will have to pick one up and scan it for slang, im sure i'll find plenty

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Bouncingturtle · 09/09/2007 13:50

Absolutely - I occasionally flick through a colleagues

stepfordwife · 09/09/2007 13:51

fair cop

startouchedtrinity · 09/09/2007 14:49

I can honestly say I never read it. But I find the slang bizaare and it wouldn't make it easier to scan. Pal? Round here it's 'mate'. And cops are only in American tv shows - we have the Old Bill, thank you.

Sidge · 09/09/2007 15:11

In SunLand:

Police officers are cops.

Children are kids or tots.

Any half dressed female is a stunna

And a member of any of the 3 armed services is a soldier

mytwopenceworth · 09/09/2007 15:25

It's the Sun.

Police is out of the question - it's 2 syllables. (this explains 'kids', too)

Women come in 2 types - Stunna or Lesbinim

And it's probably best not to confuse them by trying to explain we have an air force and a navy as well.

WideWebWitch · 09/09/2007 15:26

Not soldiers Sidge, they're 'our brave lads'

lucyellensmum · 09/09/2007 15:47

Any half dressed woman sidge? um, even maggie thatcher caught in the shower by the blind man?

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Sidge · 09/09/2007 16:09

LOL Lucyellensmum - they probably would describe her as a stunna as long as she had her boobs out!

lucyellensmum · 09/09/2007 16:11

oh god, i have a tummy bug, that image is NOT helping.

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geekymummy · 11/09/2007 17:08

don't forget the term "love rat", never used IRL either

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