Does anyone else use closed-caption on their TV? I know

[cspanlovr]

these typists have to type at the speed of light, but sometimes their mistakes are too funny. this morning I was listening to Cspan and the spoken words were: "...making Iraq a haven for terrorists" while the closed caption said "...making Iraq a haven for tourists."............then on CNN, re: Foley, the spoken words were "...Foley said he had a significant alcohol problem and will seek treatment for alcoholism and its problems" while the closed captioned said "...Foley said he a significant alcohol pro lem and will seek treatment for capitalism and its problems. Too funny, huh?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. I only use it on the spanish channel

otherwise, I can't understand a thing. :shrug:

I'll have to try that, thanks!

[cspanlovr]

2. P.S. I feel sorry for the deaf and hard of hearing with this kind

of transcription for them.

[Tunkamerica]

4. it's usually only live shows that are like that

syndicated shows, teleprompted shows and the like are usually accurate

[Marymarg]

16. Speaking for my deaf selt

Just because I can't hear does not mean I have no sense of humor. Believe me, a sense of humor is essential for a deaf person!

And, mistakes, glitches, and all, I thank God for closed-captioning!

[welshTerrier2]

3. "seek treatment for capitalism and its problems"

out of the mouths of babes ...

i use the closed caption stuff all the time ... i frequently have the TV on in a muted state ... i love the "mistakes" the close captioning displays ... i hope they never fix it ... it's often much better, and as you pointed out, much more amusing, than what was actually said ...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. At one of the colleges where I taught, there was a daily bulletin of

campus events. Faculty and organizations sent in often handwritten notes for a student assistant to type up in newsletter form and print out.

On Ash Wednesday, the campus chaplaincy (generic Protestant) sent out an apparently handwritten announcement saying that they would be holding a "service of Communion" at noon.

However, in secularized Oregon, it's quite likely that the student assistant didn't know what that was, and I KNOW that the chaplain's handwriting was bad, so what appeared in the daily bulletin was "a service of Communism" (Damn liberal Protestants! :-) )

[BrklynLiberal]

5. I turn it on when * is talking on Countdown. I cannot stand his voice.

The mistakes are sometimes very humorous.

[rkc3]

7. Bush's mistakes or the typist?

[BrklynLiberal]

9. Bush's mistakes are disgusting. The typist's are funny.

[rkc3]

15. Thanks for the clarification - although dumbya's mistakes can be funny.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. We use it

My wife and I both have poor hearing. For years, we missed much of the dialogue on TV shows, so I finally turned on closed captioning (thinking, "Duh! Why didn't I do this long ago?").

As someone else noted, the captions are fairly accurate for recorded shows. On news programs, they can be bizarre and often funny.

On recorded shows, they still sometimes differ from the actual speech. In some cases, I think that's because the people writing the closed captions work from earlier versions of the script. The director may modify the dialogue when actually shooting a scene, and that doesn't show up in the captions. I've also seen captions for a character when that character isn't speaking. Same cause, I suspect.

Also, obscenities usually get skipped in the captions. I'm so glad we hard-of-hearing and deaf people are protected that way. Heavens, who knows what frightful moral corruption we might be subject to otherwise?

[drbtg1]

8. Closed Captioning is always on for my kids

No hearing problems, but the youngest is still learning to read. I don't know of any studies, but if the kid is going to watch Nick or Cartoon Network anyway, I figure it can't hurt.

[Frank Cannon]

10. Live shows are typically captioned by stenographers...

using software that translates their stenography keystrokes into English. This doesn't work some of the time, often resulting in the hilarious errors that we see.

Taped (or filmed) shows are captioned by people who typically have access to scripts, writers, producers, etc., ahead of airing, also with some lead time so that they can clean up any discrepancies beforehand.

Don't ask me how I know all this, but I do.

[Catchawave]

11. "Sam Boney"

We had a hockey game on mute once and the typist kept typing Sam Boney for Zamboni. I always thought it would be a great DU name for a hockey fan :D

[xxqqqzme]

12. I use it cuz I mute chucklenuts

whenever he tries to speak in public.

There are some very funny screw ups from time to time.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. I use it on some of the imported British shows when the

characters are speaking a non-standard dialect of English, such as Lowland Scots or Cockney.

[TrogL]

17. I have it on all the time

I have a hearing impariment that makes it difficult for me to hear the TV if there's any background noise (eg. traffic).

Sometimes they give the CC person an early copy of the script, which differs from what actually makes it to air. The differences are sometimes amusing.

Sometimes they get frustrated. During the Canadian Election debates, often they'd type "everybody talking at once" (which pretty much summed it up). On another occasion, I saw "fuck I give up".