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Most Recently Answered Questions
Questions 1 - 10 of 432 (Page 1 of 44)Submitted by Marti Sherrill from Charlotte, NC
Q:Why is the default for reader's comments "newest first"? To follow the thread of answers to prior comments you must always change to "oldest first"--otherwise you are unable to understand what the later comments are referring to.
A: Good point. I noticed the same issue the other day. I think this is about our news culture. Surely, you would want the newest comments first, right? The problem with that is that people who make comments start talking to each other. That means that "newest first" puts you at the end of the conversation. The commenter on your screen is angry or happy about something someone else said and you have no idea what that was without scrolling down. It's like starting at the end of the movie and playing it backwards. On the other hand, "oldest first" buries the most up to date comments. Will you even go that far into the comments? I'd like to hear from more of you about your preferences.
Submitted by Mary-Katherine from Charlotte, NC
Q:Least favorite Southern colloquialisms - "might could". Also the pronunciation of theater "the-A-ter". Least favorite Massachusetts colloquialisms - "wicked good". "We're off to summer at our cottage on the cape". Least favorite Pennsylvania colloquialism - "ready up" meaning clean up or pick up a room. Least favorite NY colloquialisms - "Yo, buddy". "Yeah, ____ you too pal". Least favorite 20 something saying - "amazing". Least favorite teen sayings - "That's so gay", "Mom, I need cash", "I had a bad day at school. The principal might be calling". Least favorite husband saying - "The credit card bill arrived". Least favorite PTA saying - "Is your child in the gifted program too?" Least favorite church saying (between a Catholic and a Protestant) - "We have plenty of mixed marriages here". Least favorite store saying - "This register is closed".
A: "Might could" sounds like a perfectly good qualifier to me. Sometimes it pays to be tentative. "Ready up" reminds me that out in Texas, some like to say "cowboy up." Or was that Oklahoma? The southern equivalent appears to be "git 'er done." Translation: put your head down and finish the job. It's not what you'd expect from anybody who uses summer as a verb.
Submitted by ronnie from lincolnton north carolina
Q:Would the phrase, "fixing to go get" apply to this argument? Is "irrelevant" a word? Is "went to go get" proper english? Something to do in your down time.
A: Nah, it would be "fixin to go get."
Submitted by Linda from Charlotte, NC
Q:Rick, a news story posted on the Observer.com website at 5:19 on Sunday, October 25, contains the following quote: "They have been trying to get a hold of the home owner but have not had any luck." Get a hold of??? I'm a lifelong Southerner and well aware of our local colloquialisms, but I hope you will agree that such an expresion has no place in a "newspaper" story. This sort of thing happens relatively frequently in the Observer's online edition, and I, for one, find it inexcusable. Are all the proofreaders retired or dead?
A: Actually, Webster's appears to even be comfortable with "ahold." It actually lists the term and explains its usage in the way this person used it. Granted, I don't hear this usage much from my friends in Boston. But I'm not offended by it appearing in the newspaper, especially if we are quoting what someone actually said. I don't know that this colloquial expression added any context for the reader, but sometimes one will. You mention that you grew up in the South. It's also interesting to me that certain expressions stand out for a person who is not native to an area, but go largely unnoticed by others who have heard them all their lives. For example, when our family moved to Kansas 12 years ago, I was surprised to hear someone call a person he admired "ornery." Growing up in North Carolina, I knew only the dictionary's definition for that term: "cantankerous." But I met Kansans who used it affectionately, often for someone who was mischievious in an endearing way, as in a "rascal." Kansans got a laugh out of my Carolina colloquialisms, some of which I hadn't recognized living here. In tentatively suggesting a course of action, I sometimes begin by saying we "might could . . . ." For some reason, they thought just one word would do. What are your favorite colloquialisms? Which do you hope to never hear (or read in the Observer) again?
Submitted by Unknown from north meck
Q:In the merger conversation, why don't some of the larger fund raisers merger? We have United Way and Foundation for the Carolinas both raising money with duplicative higher dollar infrastructures? Your thoughts?
A: Good question. First, a bit of trivia. Did you know that Foundation for the Carolinas began in 1958 with a $3,000 grant from United Way? Obviously, the thought then was that a foundation would serve a distinctly different mission. It still holds true. Yes, you often find United Way and the Foundation in the same room, working together for the community's benefit. But United Way's mission is focused largely on immediate needs tied to health and human services, while the Foundation focuses on civic leadership and philanthropy management. In fact, the Foundation presently manages the endowments of both the United Way and the Arts & Science Council (which focuses, obviously, on the community's cultural arts and sciences). That's one example of how these groups do collaborate. Here's another way they are different: their geographic footprints. The Foundation serves 13 counties in North and South Carolina. United Way of Central Carolinas serves Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Union and Anson counties, as well as Mooresville and Lake Norman. The Arts & Science Council serves Mecklenburg County.
Submitted by Rick Thames from Charlotte, NC
Q:The editor's turn: Have you tried to keep track of serious crimes in your part of town through our new interactive crime map? If so, how would you grade this feature? A,B, C, D or F? And why?
A: See the interactive map at this address: http://bit.ly/oLAqw
Submitted by jerry Jonas Mudge from Charlotte N.C.
Q:Not a question but a statement. My first husband Leon Jonas worked in the mail room that the time Hugo hit and after sending the newspaper out that night, he was unable to get home himself. We lived in the Steele Creek section of Charlotte and he had to park his van next to the Food Lion on South Tryon until someone cut the trees in the road blocking the street near our home. It is really odd that my youngest son Wayne was able to bring his wife and son all the way from Gastonia to our home but his dad couldn't get there until the next morning at 8:00 am. While everyone seemed afraid of the storm, my oldest son Leon Jr and I opened the front and back door and watched it. We had never seen a storm like that before. Didn't think about the danger at all. We only had one tree fall.
A: Yes, Hugo was like this. One Observer carrier, Dave Smiley, told me that he was only seven miles from home when he finished his route in the Pineville area that day. "But I had to drive about 30 miles to get there," Dave said. Dave also remembers exactly how long he was without power. "Nine days, 14 hours and 20 minutes." Another carrier, Robert Jackson, was delivering in the vicinity of Nation's Ford Road that morning. Robert saw trees on top of cars and houses with their roofs blown off. "Nobody expected to get a paper that day," Robert said. "A lot of people shook my hand."
Submitted by Bobbi Campbell from Cornelius, NC
Q:I appreciate that you are trying the "chapter" approach to the Hugo story. Instead of daily chapters, though, you have daily abstracts that provide almost no information. If you are going to do a daily chapter, then update each of the threads as to what they were doing on that day- not just that "teaser" that does not have enough narrative to be worth reading.
A: Bobbi, you've put your finger on the challenge of this concept. The point is to be compelling, but also relatively brief. If we had updated each character daily, the story would have grown very long in a hurry. However, I realize that some readers would have preferred that length over the 40 lines of type that we restricted the story to on most days.
Submitted by Nancy Smith from c
Q:On the comment from Nancy Rotan about "Mother:Please Fly Home Now". I agree with her. I want the whole story and not just a tease. Suppose someone is out of town and misses the "rest of the story". Your "serial narrative" is like the TV evening news "stay tuned at 11 for the rest of the story". No one likes that.
A: Thanks Nancy. For the record, I don't like those TV evening news teases, either. But I do think this series is less like that and more like a series of chapters in a book. That said, I've heard from others who share your sentiment. They want to read this "book" all at once. We understand that. Those readers, we believe, will ultimately be satisfied with a longer, more detailed story that provides the conclusion of the series. It will appear this Sunday (Sept. 20). And it won't be necessary for a person to have read the whole series in order to follow the Sunday story. As for these daily installments, we don't mean to frustrate or "tease" our readers with them. Rather, we are trying to write each installment so it provides a chronologically arranged slice of the story that is worth knowing even if you don't read the other 10 parts of the series. But if the approach does frustrate, know that the end is near! On Sept. 20, the outcome for all the characters who have unresolved issues will be known.
Submitted by Nancy Rotan from Morganton NC
Q:Where is the rest of the story "Mother:Please Fly Home Now" that begins on 1A of today's paper?
A: Nancy, the rest of this mother's story, which is about Hurricane Hugo, will appear in days to come. You are reading what we call a "serial narrative." You may notice the note at the top of the story that says "fourth of 11 parts." It's a bit like a continuing series on television. Each day, a reader can follow the development of the "plot." Only, this "plot" is a real-life drama. This drama, which we are calling "Hugo's Wrath," concludes on Sunday, Sept. 20. Why not just bring you the whole story at once? We chose this method for at least a couple of reasons. For one, we wanted to give readers an opportunity to experience the suspense and surprise of Hugo as others originally experienced it. The storm evolved as a news story over many days. Second, we wanted to present readers an account of Hugo that was both fresh and easy to follow in its approach. The serial can offer slices of the big story that are both quick and interesting reading. My hunch is that many people will like this approach. But I'm sure that others would prefer one rather long story. Let us know which you prefer.
