Posted by In case you missed it, in 2006, a book on punctuation with the title “Eats, shoots and leaves” illustrated the power that one little comma can have on meaning.
In the age of the internet replete with its jargon and acronyms, grammar and punctuation have clearly gone by the wayside. It is therefore not surprising, although disappointing, that we have so many people misinterpret a simple CBC article that reads, “Air Canada cancels flights to China until April as government braces for domestic coronavirus outbreak.” The first sentence of the article could not be clearer. “Air Canada is extending its suspension of flights between Canada and mainland China until April as the number of coronavirus cases — and the number of countries affected — continues to grow.” But so many commentators seem to be fixated on the headline use of the word “flights TO China”.
Anne Bérubé: “So flights are cancelled from Canada to China but I heard on the news last evening that flights from China to Canada are still going on! So, if this is still the case, this is absurd to ban one way only!”
Anne Bérubé: Reply to @Bill Stewart: I just read that the Washington Time is saying that Trump does not know what to do in case of a disaster or epidemy! Maybe so, but we are definitely not better here as health officials ban flights to China but NOT the flights from China to Canada!!! How is that for intelligent knowhow. Are these Health Canada officials for real?
Fred Ziffel: “What about cancelling flights FROM China.”
Rhiannon Simms: “Cancels flights to but not from China?”
Well, you get the point because there are so many people who made basically the same comment. I don’t know if these people are trying to be clever or if they really are that stupid. Do they really think that Air Canada is flying empty planes to China and flying back fully-loaded flights of COVID-19 infected passengers who then walk around the streets of Toronto and Vancouver sneezing on everyone. Sadly, they are probably that dumb as I have run into so many smart asses who actually think they are being clever making similar points on different topics. When called out on their stupidity, the response is almost always the same defensive reaction. It this case, it would probably be something like “if they meant both ways, they should have wrote it clearly” – even though it is very clear from the first sentence of the article that Air Canada means cancelled both ways. What’s the matter? Did you only read the headline and not the entire article? Few of these clever know-it-all intellectually challenged individuals would simply just admit that they read it wrong because that would be like admission of their idiocy.
I did find one guy who actually is literate though (unfortunately he can’t spell).
Alex Young: “Nest (sic) step is to cancel all foreign flights arriving at Canada from China…….”
What? You means transcontinental monopoly government flag carrier Air Canada is not the only airline that flies between Canada and China? So when someone tries to be clever and says there are still planes arriving from China, that is true — just not Air Canada flights. The same is happening in the US where, “US airlines suspend flights to mainland China as coronavirus spreads“. But as Forbes points out, “You Can Still Fly U.S. To China If You Need To Go.” “American, Delta and United have all suspended flights to China and Hong Kong until at least late April, but it remains possible to fly from the U.S. to China if you need to get there. Airline data provider OAG says 20 flights will operate between China and the U.S. on Friday, including service from the U.S. to Beijing on Air China, to Shanghai from JFK and LAX on China Eastern and to Qingdao on Xiamen, while Cathay Pacific will fly to Hong Kong from Boston and Newark.”
But most people (especially in Canada) think that there is an outright travel ban between the United States and China. In fact, Air Canada cancelled its China flights at pretty much the same time the Americans airlines did and this news report is just stating that it is extending the length of the cancellation until April (originally it was sometime in March).
Sure everyone is entitled to their own opinion — even stupid people. I am willing to overlook simple mistakes and misunderstandings, but when you do it consistently and in a fashion that illustrates that you are just trying (but failing miserably) to be a smart ass, I’m gonna to call you out on it every time. Sadly, the internet has laid bare just how many stupid people are out there who can’t even read a simple article properly nor enunciate a reasoned and logical opinion of relatively basic and clear cut subjects. These people have been there all along — we just never heard from them in the old days unless they were the crazy homeless guy downtown with the cardboard sign around their neck screaming about the end of the world. Even letters to the editor at newspapers were selected and edited although your chances of getting published were pretty high. But in the internet age, even this tiny CBC article has over 1000 comments on it, meaning every town idiot with an internet connection thinks its his moral duty to show how moronic and ignorant he is to the rest of the world. Sometime I long for the days when these people were restricted to yelling on the streets downtown — at least you could mostly avoid and ignore that guy.
