Job Discussion Forums

buravirgil · Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 10:41 pm Post subject: Strunk & White: Grammar Police

http://www.themillions.com/2015/09/scenes-from-our-unproduced-screenplay-strunk-white-grammar-police.html

BEAT COP
It’s over here, detectives. The body was found about an hour ago.

STRUNK
Use the active voice, rookie.

BEAT COP
Oh god, it’s horrible. I feel nauseous.

STRUNK
Unless you mean you’re sickening to contemplate, you mean “nauseated.” Now get out of my crime scene before you puke all over it.

WHITE (inspecting the body)
It’s definitely our guy, Strunk.

STRUNK
The Crossword Killer?

WHITE
Yeah. And look, he’s getting more confident. This time, he used a pen.

fluffyhamster · Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 1:01 am Post subject:

Sorry, not gritty enough! I prefer Vomit Cops. Razz

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Authentic copspeak requires more expletives.

fluffyhamster · Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 1:58 pm Post subject:

Seriously though, that last line (about the CK getting more confident, by having used a pen this time) cracks me up. Fun find, Buravirgil! Very Happy

johnslat · Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 2:27 pm Post subject:

Boy, everybody's a critic. Very Happy

Regards,
John

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

The only ex-cop I know on this forum is Johnslat.

johnslat · Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 3:32 pm Post subject:

That's a negative, scot47. Oh, I admittedly went through all the physical, mental testing for the New Mexico State Police back about 10 years ago and was offered entrance to the academy, but I turned it down.

Regards,
John

fluffyhamster · Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:42 pm Post subject:

While TEFLing I've met a number of people who, like me, may be <psst> ex-non-SAS. Must be a higher calling, ELTing! But with its fair share of secret codes, practices, handshakes, and surgical demolitions.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Lots of Walter Mitty types - especially in the Middle East.

wanttoteach1 · Joined: 24 Sep 2015 Posts: 21

Beat Cop spoke correctly, colloquially.

santi84 · Joined: 14 Mar 2008 Posts: 1317 Location: under da sea

For what it's worth, in policing we were always told to use the passive voice in narrative reports.

Like John, I dropped out at the hiring stage too, for medical reasons. I stayed on as a civilian member. One of my job functions was to review narrative reports for obvious spelling and grammatical mistakes.

johnslat · Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 9:58 pm Post subject:

In my case, I was offered a choice: You can join the State Police or we can stay married. Very Happy

Regards,
John

santi84 · Joined: 14 Mar 2008 Posts: 1317 Location: under da sea