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“Eminem Helps Save Detroit’s Fledgling Auto Industry”
Headline in DrJays.com, purveyor of sneakers, jeans & urban clothing, for a contrived story on how the “Imported from Detroit” ad has helped Chrysler post a $116 million profit in the first three months of the year. Let’s not even go there.
Rather, let’s recommend that DrJays uses some money to support fledgling writers who know a bit of the English language.
fledg·ling
noun, often attributive \flej-liŋ\
Definition of fledgling
1: a young bird just fledged
2: an immature or inexperienced person
3: one that is new <a fledgling company>
I don’t think Detroit is either one of them. Is there an antonym for “fledgling?”
15 Comments on “Quote Of The Day: Fledgling Detroit...”
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I work for one of them and that antonym starts with an “F” alright.
I was was having a conversation with one of my coworkers about the places I’ve worked, and realized they were all on the brink of bankruptcy. Hope it’s ok to name them but here they are since I left college.
Detroit Testing Labs – No longer has a Metallurgical Dept, came close to bankruptcy while I was there – bad management.
AlliedSignal – Friction Materials, i.e., Bendix. I think Bendix exists as a trade name only, now owned by Honeywell. Brake pad business was up for sale or close to bankruptcy while there.
Lucas Automotive – 7 month stint. Are they still around?
Back to Bendix – see above.
Chrysler (3 months), DaimlerChrysler, Cerberus… Bankruptcy!
Chrysler (Fiat) LLC – So far so good. I’m liking the Italian-led management much better than what I’ve seen in the past.
I’m surprised I don’t have an ulcer.
I’ve seen a lot of Bendix and Lucas brake pads made in China and put into appropriately branded boxes.
Someone who uses “fledgling” in this case has simply confused the world fledgling with the word strugling.
They did use struggling in the body of the story; just the headline was incorrect. However, if you read the entire passage, you will find the statement that the profit as Chrysler has “nothing to do with product”…only Eminem is responsible…Well, if that were true the next quarter should be a disaster. After going to see all of the Chrysler product at the car show, I can say that all of it is notably improved from the year before. Now, the first few strokes of your golf game come the fastest; the same logic applies here. Starting with the bar set as low as it was, the easiest improvements came quickly. Considering the limited resources and limited time, they did an excellent job. A long way to go, yes, but that they are even here to give it another try is impressive to say the least. I hope they make it. FWIW, the crowds at the Chrysler stands were pretty strong. Can’t say the same for the Fiat spread. Still, I have seen my first Fiat store made from a small Chrysler shop (Mopar moved down the street to the existing Dodge shop). I do see quite a few Chargers on the road now, so maybe they are building momentum.
I think they meant flatulent and the 14 y/o editor’s smart phone auto-corrected a spelling error to read ‘fledgling’.
Flatulent (from MW dictionary):
1a : likely to cause gas
b : marked by or affected with gas generated in the intestine or stomach
2: pompously or portentously overblown
Since Italian cars like to combust flatulence seems about right.
In a more charitable vein, maybe the author meant newly ‘reborn.’ Even so, it is still a little odd.
I suppose they could have called it a fledgling phoenix – or would that have been mixing avian metaphors?
“Reborn”, perhaps, but certainly not “fledgling” by any means.
Poor choice of words. Some of these so-called “journalists” need to go back to school, get a real typewriter, work for a newspaper in a small town somewhere and learn the art of factual writing. “just the facts, Ma’am”, and forget the hype that permeates all forms of today’s media.
Having said that, I do not consider headlines or pictures used as hyperbole in that vein, so there is a fine line. I believe it depends on the subject and the seriousness of the issue at hand, whether hard news or entertainment or somewhere in between.
The main reason I joined TTAC was because after being a reader of the many posters here and most of the articles, they are generally well-written and often quite funny (even the trolls), and crudity, while still rearing its ugly head from time to time, is bearable to me thus far (there are and have been exceptions). So, in other words, this site, to me, is the cream of the crop. I must also put “Curbside Classic”, which I consider a sister site in with this as well.
It’s a downside to the access the Internet provides as opposed to print or traditional electronic media. Anyone with a computer or even a smartphone can publish, and even the best blogs are subject to language lapses simply from a lack of editorial eyes to pick them up.
But as with anything else, the best tend to rise to the top. Everyone loves a well-written piece, but a simple “clean” wire-style story can be just as appealing. Bad writing and multiple typos make for a tedious read.
Must be why I keep coming back here. I might not agree with everything written, but I do enjoy reading it.
Suggest “Fogey”
TTAC criticizing Dr. Jays for a poorly thought-out article on the automotive industry is like a mathlete walking into remedial classes and being taken aback by the pupils’ inability to perform calculus.
Yes, it’s poorly written, and not very insightful. Not sure what you were expecting.
“For is tooling up for…”
The FIRST WORD in the next story is spelled incorrectly and TPTB are commenting on English usage by someone else?!
Heh!
Antonym of fledgling? Old fart!
I agree that it’s not precisely fair to pick at nits in headlines, since at most newspapers headlines are written by someone else than the story writer. Yet nearly every day I see headlines that make me shake my head in wonderment.
…and I must say that in view of the apparent lack of any editorial function in use at the New York Times it doesn’t really make sense to complain about such a lack with regard to bloggers.
While we’re on the subject…
The word “ridiculous” is now used as if it means “crazy,” “amazing,” or “unbelievable” when in fact it means “deserving of ridicule.”
Getting real tired of seeing advertisements for “ridiculous savings.”
Hijack over.