Cato's Grammar Grumble

[Cato]

In a review of Jarvi's recording of Suppe's overtures Rob Barnett writes:

He had a knack for a good tune and was no slouch with catchy melodies either

Now, my question is: what is the difference between a good tune and a catchy melody?

Well, a good tune not necessarily is catchy, and a catchy melody is not necessarily good. My two cents worth, YMMV, and all that...

Good evening to you, Andrei.

An example might be the "Baby Shark" jingle, which tortured most of the planet a few years ago.

An example of a great melody, but given its contrapuntal/harmonic aspects, one would probably not consider it "catchy," is the opening of Grieg's Ballade for Piano:

But could one still call it a tune?   

Well, one might as well argue that a catchy tune is not necessarily good and a good melody is not necessarily catchy. 

Actually, it all boils down to what is the difference between a tune and a melody? AFAIK, they are synonymous.

That could be: there are all kinds of debates on the Internet about this.  Some say that they are synonyms...except "melody" can refer to more complex things e.g. the opening to Bruckner's Symphony #7.

Or not! 

[DavidW]

"Yeah, you need to enter your soash!"     

I hate how, instead of elaborating with "social security number", she assumes she is dealing with an idiot and starts talking down to her. If you ever wonder why so many of these administrative assistants provide a rote speech of "I will need a copy of your insurance, form of identification, including social security..." no matter what, this story is why!

[Mandryka]

Here's a catchy melody which is not a good tune

 

[Florestan]

Here's a catchy melody which is not a good tune

Great! Now give us a catchy tune which is not a good melody. 

[Mandryka]

Great! Now give us a catchy tune which is not a good melody. 

Well here's a good melody which is not  catchy tune

 

[Karl Henning]

Grumbling at ads circulating on the internet/one's phone is like shooting sunnies in a barrel. Especially as the source may be non-native anglophones (or downstream AI.) Still, I barely suppressed laughter at "No Ad."

[Cato]

Possibly this could only happen in Florida*, into which we recently tip-toed to see our grandchildren...

A sign on a street corner:

UNADVERTIZED HOUSES FOR SALE - FROM THE $300,000

In one sense, the "z" and the number problems ($300,000's would be correct) are minor errors.

It reminded me of The Treachery of Images by Rene Magritte, which shows a pipe with the caption "This is not a pipe!" underneath it.

i.e. If you advertise a house for sale, is it not therefore advertised?

We assumed that the seller meant perhaps "Previously unadvertised houses" are now available, get 'em while they last!

* An Ohio D.J. has a program about "Dumb Criminals in Flori-duh," which apparently attracts criminals who have not thought everything through!

https://rock929rocks.com/2025/01/31/idiot-criminal-florida-mancurfew/

[DavidW]

I was reading a thread on another forum about page numbers in ebooks. For something so pedantic, the arguments were surprisingly heated. The core question ended up being "Do ebooks even have pages?" I read a post that made me think of this thread (mostly because I think some of you resemble this!)

Reading this thread does make me wonder how the vernacular police get through their day. They must be in a constant state of outrage, what with dialing a phone number, rolling down a car window and so forth.

Even as I type this message, I wonder, "Where's the type?" Shh! I don't want them to come after me.

[Florestan]

Today I received an official alert on my phone about bad weather, both in written form and spoken by AI. It was written "wind speed 70-90 kmph" and the AI voice read "70 minus 90 kmph". 

[Kalevala]

Today I received an official alert on my phone about bad weather, both in written form and spoken by AI. It was written "wind speed 70-90 kmph" and the AI voice read "70 minus 90 kmph". 

Oh, boy! 

There's a certain chef whose videos that I like to watch on youtube.  I keep getting these horrible ads about diet tricks--some of which have images of Oprah and another which has Whoopi Goldberg--both with the same dialogue.  It's amazing what they can do with AI these days though, besides the nature of the ads (one dead giveaway), in the Oprah one, one could see signs for Weight Watchers in the background (She was addressing an audience) which also totally negates her endorsement for this snake oil ad.  I click through them as fast as I can.

K

[JBS]

Today I received an official alert on my phone about bad weather, both in written form and spoken by AI. It was written "wind speed 70-90 kmph" and the AI voice read "70 minus 90 kmph". 

But it's simple. A -20 kmph north wind is actually a +20 kmph south wind.