Doctor Who... Page 592

Quote: zooo @ July 2 2010, 12:04 PM BST

But he was saying it in the first episode. So they heard it then.

I remember the very moment I learned about the phrase 'Eureka', it was Johnny Ball on telly. THAT'S HOW KIDS FLIPPING LEARN!

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Exactly, what else are you supposed to do? Every time a character says a new or slightly strange word, stop and explain what it means? Kids will hear it, understand the meaning behind it by the context in which it's delivered, and then they'll know and have learned a new word or phrase.

Writing down to the audience is a real risk in Who. I remember in the Empty Child a girl asking if she could 'use the bathroom'. I still don't know whether this was ignorance on behalf of Moffat, pandering to American sales or fear that younger viewers wouldn't understand a euphemistic phrase of the time like lavvy or privy. It struck a really discordant note in the episode what with 1% of houses (or whatever) at the time having a bathroom.

Quote: zooo @ July 2 2010, 12:04 PM BST

But he was saying it in the first episode. So they heard it then.

I remember the very moment I learned about the phrase 'Eureka', it was Johnny Ball on telly.

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My point is simply that 8 year-olds don't understand a lot of what happens in Who. And an example of that is that if they read the word Geronimo (it wasn't vocalised), they will not connect that with what the writer had intended to convey. Another is the wedding rhyme. Sure, they will then know...but only when it is explained. It's not criticism, but it is fact. And that might explain why so few of the kids I know still watch it, whereas they have down in the recent past.

Quote: Nogget @ July 2 2010, 12:57 PM BST

My point is simply that 8 year-olds don't understand a lot of what happens in Who. And an example of that is that if they read the word Geronimo (it wasn't vocalised), they will not connect that with what the writer had intended to convey.

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I disagree, I think it's pretty obvious within the context of its use what the word is supposed to convey.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ July 2 2010, 12:59 PM BST

I disagree, I think it's pretty obvious within the context of its use what the word is supposed to convey.

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So you're 8, are you?

Quote: Nogget @ July 2 2010, 12:57 PM BST

And that might explain why so few of the kids I know still watch it, whereas they have down in the recent past.

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What about Tennant's 'Allons-y!'? I imagine kids didn't know exactly what that meant at first, but they still watched.

Quote: Nogget @ July 2 2010, 1:00 PM BST

So you're 8, are you?

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No, but I also know kids aren't all stupid, they pick things up and learn.

Quote: Nogget @ July 2 2010, 12:00 PM BST

Clear to older people, and well in character for The Doctor, but unheard of by the cross-section of 8 year-olds I asked.

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Did you also ask them whether the meaning of yabbadabbado is clear?

Quote: Matthew Stott @ July 2 2010, 1:02 PM BST

What about Tennant's 'Allons-y!'?

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Always vocalised. Write it down for a kid and then see if they understand it without explanation.

Quote: Marc P @ July 2 2010, 1:07 PM BST

Did you also ask them whether the meaning of yabbadabbado is clear?

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Fred Flintstone generally didn't use it in written communication.

But didn't River Song read it out?
Are you maybe forgetting that the Doctor said it quite a lot at the start of the series? He didn't exactly keep it up and make it a proper catchphrase like I was expecting him to. (Thank god.)

Quote: Nogget @ July 2 2010, 1:10 PM BST

Always vocalised. Write it down for a kid and then see if they understand it without explanation.

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Huh? Are you saying it was in the delivery? Because if you are, that's exactly why most kids would get the gist of Geronimo.

Quote: zooo @ July 2 2010, 1:11 PM BST

But didn't River Song read it out?
Are you maybe forgetting that the Doctor said it quite a lot at the start of the series?

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Quite, he screamed 'geronimo' at moments of great excitement, generally when tumbling excitingly towards danger; such as after just regenerating and the Tardis was tumbling towars earth, and when he was just about to ride a wave of vomit out of a whales mouth.

Quote: Nogget @ July 2 2010, 1:10 PM BST

Always vocalised. Write it down for a kid and then see if they understand it without explanation.

Fred Flintstone generally didn't use it in written communication.

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Sorry I must have missed the programme you saw - I watched the one where people talked.

Quote: Nogget @ July 2 2010, 12:00 PM BST

Clear to older people, and well in character for The Doctor, but unheard of by the cross-section of 8 year-olds I asked.

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8 year olds can f**k off. What have they ever done? They don't even pay a license fee!

Quote: chipolata @ July 2 2010, 1:38 PM BST

8 year olds can f**k off. What have they ever done? They don't even pay a license fee!

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I saw one throw a cat across a room once. The cat broke its leg, it later died as it couldn't hobble out the way of a moving car quick enough. We should pay no heed to the needs of eight year olds!!

What a little scumbag.

You know not to hurt kitties by age 8. No excuse.

Quote: zooo @ July 2 2010, 1:52 PM BST

You know not to hurt kitties by age 8. No excuse.

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Getting back on topic, equally bad is people who live in small apartments (or flats or units or whatever you like to call them) without a garden and insist on having a dog. It should be illegal to own a dog if you expect it to live most of its life indoors and only let it out once a day to pee and crap on a footpath or in a park. Unless the dog is a robot.