Words don't lie, part II: Perception Analyzer reveals no Jack Kennedys at vice presidential debate

[Dennis Baron]

yeah, so did jimmy carter, who had a degree in that stuff --
____________________
Dennis Baron
Professor of English and Linguistics
Department of English
University of Illinois
608 S. Wright St.
Urbana, IL 61801

office: 217-244-0568
fax: 217-333-4321

http://illinois.edu/goto/debaron

read the Web of Language:
http://illinois.edu/goto/weboflanguage







On Oct 2, 2008, at 11:41 PM, Doug_Harris wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Doug_Harris <cats22 at STNY.RR.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Words don't lie,              part II: Perception
> Analyzer
>              reveals no Jack Kennedys at vice
> presidential debate
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> And she also said 'nukular' a few times.
> dh
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of
> Dennis Baron
> Sent: Friday, October 03, 2008 12:29 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Words don't lie, part II: Perception Analyzer reveals no Jack
> Kennedys at vice presidential debate
>
> There's a new post on the Web of Language:
>
> Words don't lie, part II: Perception Analyzer reveals no Jack Kennedys
> at vice presidential debate
>
> During the first presidential debate last week, CNN used a Perception
> Analyzer to track audience responses to the candidates. Members of a
> focus group in Columbus turned the analyzer's dial to the left when
> they didn't like what they heard, and to the right when they did,
> which presumes they prefer being right of center. Analysis of the
> results showed that most of the audience stayed awake for most of the
> 90-minute-long debate.
>
> The network deployed the Perception Analyzer again at the vice
> presidential debate last night at Washington University in St. Louis,
> only with a twist: CNN turned it into an IQ meter for Gov. Palin, and
> a foot-in-mouth detector for Sen. Biden.
>
> In the end, though, the technology didn't tell us any more than the
> candidates did. Palin showed no palpable IQ deficits, though she did
> once call her opponent Sen. Obiden and she mis-named the general
> commanding American forces in Afghanistan. Biden outscored her by
> showing more grasp of concrete detail, while keeping both feet planted
> firmly on the floor. . . .
>
> To no one's surprise, last night in St. Louis neither candidate proved
> to be Jack Kennedy. Neither even came close to channeling Lloyd
> Bentsen. Fortunately, neither of them looked to be the next Dick
> Cheney, either. And former Vice President Quayle held onto his title
> of "dumber than a sixth grader." . . .
>
> read the rest of this post and see pictures of the Perception Analyzer
> at work on the Web of Language
>
>
> ____________________
> Dennis Baron
> Professor of English and Linguistics
> Department of English
> University of Illinois
> 608 S. Wright St.
> Urbana, IL 61801
>
> office: 217-244-0568
> fax: 217-333-4321
>
> http://illinois.edu/goto/debaron
>
> read the Web of Language:
> http://illinois.edu/goto/weboflanguage
>
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