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News worthy! Jokes aside I just can't get over the writing style of The Register: "The post, made by a chap named Ross..." "The drive's a Seagate, for tho

News worthy! Jokes aside I just can't get over the writing style of The Register: "The post, made by a chap named Ross..." "The drive's a Seagate, for those of you..."

ronbeltran 11y ago
A picture of the $uptime command would have been great!
oneeyedpigeon 11y ago
a) It's British, which might explain some of the language and humour (with a "u"). b) I keep forgetting about 'El Reg', but whenever I return there, I enjoy my visit. It has a strong, unique tone which I find a breath of fresh air amongst all the dull, neutral news reporting out there.
- throwaway7767 11y ago
  > b) I keep forgetting about 'El Reg', but whenever I return there, I enjoy my visit. It has a strong, unique tone which I find a breath of fresh air amongst all the dull, neutral news reporting out there. They're basically the tabloid press of the tech news industry. But their writing style is fun, I'll grant them that.
- orf 11y ago
  We have various news feeds displayed on TV here at work, The Register is one of them. It's always fun to see some of their headlines/copy pop up, the style of writing is really great (especially when they bash the Government's IT projects with colourful language).
- laumars 11y ago
  > It's British, which might explain some of the language and humour It's better explained by simply describing the site as a tabloid. Tabloids aside, British news reporting isn't typically that informal. > I keep forgetting about 'El Reg', but whenever I return there, I enjoy my visit. It has a strong, unique tone which I find a breath of fresh air amongst all the dull, neutral news reporting out there. Personally I find the site appalling. It's up there with the The Daily Mail for rewriting other people's articles. Granted this is basically how 99% of reporting happens these days, but these kinds of tabloids often miss the entire crux of the original piece they're plagiarizing due to their editorialisation. For example, their articles on OpenSSL parallels the Daily Mail's absurd anti-immigration propaganda. And often, again like the Daily Mail, El Reg will completely miss-report a story just for the sake of having a clickbait headline. Frankly, I'd rather have dull neutral news reporting over biased misinformation.
  - collyw 11y ago
    Its a parody of the British tabloids and their ridiculous headlines. As such I find it's headlines hilarious sometimes.
    - laumars 11y ago
      I'm not convinced it's a parody. That would suggest their writing style is done as a joke; referencing British tabloids while distancing themselves as a comedy version. More likely El Reg's informal writing style is a deliberate and serious decision driven by the requirement to gain more readers (read: eyeballs on their ads). ie the same reasons any tabloid is written they way they are.
      - teh_klev 11y ago
        El Reg since day one has always had a somewhat less than deferential style of writing. The original founder, Mike Magee[0], intended the reporting style to be tabloid-like right from the get-go. You either love or hate The Register, personally I've enjoyed reading it since 1997 and get a good chuckle each morning from some of their amusing bylines. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Magee_(journalist) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Magee_(journalist)
        user_0001 11y ago
        >and get a good chuckle each morning from some of their amusing bylines. +1 Their headlines are borderline genius on occasion
      - collyw 11y ago
        Look at it. Big red banner at the top - just like the British tabloids. Constant twisting of headlines to add as much innuendo as possible. I guess if you are not from the UK it might not be so bleeding obvious, but for us it is. Would I be correct in guessing that you are not?
        11y ago
pja 11y ago
Fairly informal, occasionally jokey writing is a hallmark of the British press. For us, it’s a bit of a culture shock to read the mainstream US press which takes everything very seriously.
phillc73 11y ago
I've just spent five minutes thinking, "what's wrong with this writing style?" I still don't know. As a later poster pointed out, perhaps it is a peculiarly British style, which just doesn't register as abnormal to me. There are also certain things which grate rather badly with me when reading US "style" too. For example, "Recall our previous conversation...." Use of recall in this way feels so impolite and demanding. Normal use for me would be, "You may recall our previous conversation...." Anyway, this is not a bashing session, I just genuinely didn't find anything odd about El Reg's writing style.
- TillE 11y ago
  It's a very tabloid-y tone. Other commenters have used the word "informal", but that's not quite right. There's a certain over-the-topness that clearly distinguishes the tabloid press (British, American, German, etc) from a casual blog covering the same subject, for example.
  - phillc73 11y ago
    And to think I am just a Guardian reader.....
- unethical_ban 11y ago
  When I hear "You may recall...", I don't think of it as asking for permission. I think of it as saying "You might be able to, or maybe not". Just saying to recall the previous conversation is an indicator that previous context is required.
  - timthorn 11y ago
    Indeed - the loss of precision over may, can, might & could is a pet peeve of mine. Often language evolves, but with these words meaning is being lost - and sometimes inverted. I recently disagreed with someone who said that "you may not do something" (because you were allowed to), but it turned out that she meant might. She was a teacher, too. :(

News worthy! Jokes aside I just can't get over the writing style of The Register: "The post, made by a chap named Ross..." "The drive's a Seagate, for those of you..."

ronbeltran 11y ago

A picture of the $uptime command would have been great!

oneeyedpigeon 11y ago

a) It's British, which might explain some of the language and humour (with a "u"). b) I keep forgetting about 'El Reg', but whenever I return there, I enjoy my visit. It has a strong, unique tone which I find a breath of fresh air amongst all the dull, neutral news reporting out there.

throwaway7767 11y ago
> b) I keep forgetting about 'El Reg', but whenever I return there, I enjoy my visit. It has a strong, unique tone which I find a breath of fresh air amongst all the dull, neutral news reporting out there. They're basically the tabloid press of the tech news industry. But their writing style is fun, I'll grant them that.
orf 11y ago
We have various news feeds displayed on TV here at work, The Register is one of them. It's always fun to see some of their headlines/copy pop up, the style of writing is really great (especially when they bash the Government's IT projects with colourful language).
laumars 11y ago
> It's British, which might explain some of the language and humour It's better explained by simply describing the site as a tabloid. Tabloids aside, British news reporting isn't typically that informal. > I keep forgetting about 'El Reg', but whenever I return there, I enjoy my visit. It has a strong, unique tone which I find a breath of fresh air amongst all the dull, neutral news reporting out there. Personally I find the site appalling. It's up there with the The Daily Mail for rewriting other people's articles. Granted this is basically how 99% of reporting happens these days, but these kinds of tabloids often miss the entire crux of the original piece they're plagiarizing due to their editorialisation. For example, their articles on OpenSSL parallels the Daily Mail's absurd anti-immigration propaganda. And often, again like the Daily Mail, El Reg will completely miss-report a story just for the sake of having a clickbait headline. Frankly, I'd rather have dull neutral news reporting over biased misinformation.
- collyw 11y ago
  Its a parody of the British tabloids and their ridiculous headlines. As such I find it's headlines hilarious sometimes.
  - laumars 11y ago
    I'm not convinced it's a parody. That would suggest their writing style is done as a joke; referencing British tabloids while distancing themselves as a comedy version. More likely El Reg's informal writing style is a deliberate and serious decision driven by the requirement to gain more readers (read: eyeballs on their ads). ie the same reasons any tabloid is written they way they are.
    - teh_klev 11y ago
      El Reg since day one has always had a somewhat less than deferential style of writing. The original founder, Mike Magee[0], intended the reporting style to be tabloid-like right from the get-go. You either love or hate The Register, personally I've enjoyed reading it since 1997 and get a good chuckle each morning from some of their amusing bylines. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Magee_(journalist) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Magee_(journalist)
      - user_0001 11y ago
        >and get a good chuckle each morning from some of their amusing bylines. +1 Their headlines are borderline genius on occasion
    - collyw 11y ago
      Look at it. Big red banner at the top - just like the British tabloids. Constant twisting of headlines to add as much innuendo as possible. I guess if you are not from the UK it might not be so bleeding obvious, but for us it is. Would I be correct in guessing that you are not?
      - 11y ago

pja 11y ago

Fairly informal, occasionally jokey writing is a hallmark of the British press. For us, it’s a bit of a culture shock to read the mainstream US press which takes everything very seriously.

phillc73 11y ago

I've just spent five minutes thinking, "what's wrong with this writing style?" I still don't know. As a later poster pointed out, perhaps it is a peculiarly British style, which just doesn't register as abnormal to me. There are also certain things which grate rather badly with me when reading US "style" too. For example, "Recall our previous conversation...." Use of recall in this way feels so impolite and demanding. Normal use for me would be, "You may recall our previous conversation...." Anyway, this is not a bashing session, I just genuinely didn't find anything odd about El Reg's writing style.

TillE 11y ago
It's a very tabloid-y tone. Other commenters have used the word "informal", but that's not quite right. There's a certain over-the-topness that clearly distinguishes the tabloid press (British, American, German, etc) from a casual blog covering the same subject, for example.
- phillc73 11y ago
  And to think I am just a Guardian reader.....
unethical_ban 11y ago
When I hear "You may recall...", I don't think of it as asking for permission. I think of it as saying "You might be able to, or maybe not". Just saying to recall the previous conversation is an indicator that previous context is required.
- timthorn 11y ago
  Indeed - the loss of precision over may, can, might & could is a pet peeve of mine. Often language evolves, but with these words meaning is being lost - and sometimes inverted. I recently disagreed with someone who said that "you may not do something" (because you were allowed to), but it turned out that she meant might. She was a teacher, too. :(