As some of us get older, we begin to notice that we don't hear as well as we once did. Thank goodness for closed captioning which takes some of the effort out of watching television for the hearing impaired. But, like most every modern marvel, it is not infallible.<br />
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We have been using closed captioning at our house for a number of years thanks to a hearing loss I have been experiencing for some time. Hearing aids help but don't completely solve the problem, especially with some of today's programs where the actors and actresses don't appear to speak as distinctly as in some of the older programs. Maybe that's more realistic, more in line with the way people actually talk. It's true that in some of the older movies and TV programs, I often wonder: "Did people really talk that way back then?" Background music also gets it the way in many of today's programs, almost drowning out the dialogue at times.<br />
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But one of the interesting things about closed captioning is in the mistakes the captioning technician makes in trying to translate what is being said into words on the screen. It's something I've noticed for a long time and, I guess, is to be expected, given the pressure these people are working under. I know I wouldn't want the job. <br />
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You don't see it on pre-recorded programs but live events, such as news and sports play-by-play, are ripe for it. <br />
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For instance the title of this column is derived from one such mistake.<br />
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A policeman was describing to a reporter what happened when a woman's car was hit by a rock or brick that had been thrown at it.<br />
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"The object hit her wind advisory" is the way it appeared on closed captioning. Wind advisory was supposed to be "windshield. "<br />
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Others I've noticed lately include "marietta letters." Marietta was supposed to be "various." Then, there was "front porch stamp" which was supposed to read "front porch mat," as the reporter described how items on a porch had been tossed around by a tornado. How about, "grown out of proportion" which was supposed to be "blown out of proportion" or "lacerated river" instead of "liver" or "sit around a mob" instead of "mope"?<br />
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So, if you want to humor yourself during the next TV newscast or play-by-play or any live program you are watching, turn on the closed captioning and sit back.<br />
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But, don't call me when you're ready to turn off the closed captioning and can't figure out how to do it.<br />
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<I>(Ken Stanford is the retired longtime Newsroom Manager for WDUN NEWS TALK 550, WDUN-FM, 1240 ESPN RADIO, and AccessNorthGa.com.)<I>
