atw: Re: Particular past tense

Peter/Matt, The past tense you're referring to is a cultural thing- surely 
you've noticed it in the pub or on fishing trips of at the cricket -blokes slip 
into this wierd past tense basically whenever they're telling a yarn. People 
have been doing it since I was at school (which is a fair while), it's now 
mainstream.  Far, far more annoying to me is the way historians use the present 
tense when describing historical events in documentaries e.g. 'By now Napoleon 
is feeling vulnerable'.  What is that about?  Trying to make themselves sound 
like anthopologists or some sort of scientific observers?  I find it incredibly 
pretentious, and I don't know exactly why. 
Jon
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: MATILDA REICH 
  To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 3:25 PM
  Subject: atw: Re: Particular past tense


  Peter,
  I know what you mean although what I commonly hear is TV headline news of 
events in the past expressed in present tense - eg. "Boris Yeltsin dies at home 
in Russia", instead of "Boris Yeltsin died today at home in Russia".  

  I think it's that media thing of having a sense of immediacy. Plus it gives 
you the insinuation that they have some footage to show you the actual event so 
you can experience it live  - rather voyeuristic I think and I wince every time 
I hear the present tense used in this way.

  Mat

  >>> pfagan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 26/04/07 3:09:59 pm >>>

  I have noticed how common it has become in this country for police and
  other emergency personnel to a use a particular past tense when describing
  events to the media. Example:

  "The driver has lost control of his truck and he's ended up in a creek.
  He's got out of the cab and tried to swim for it but he's caught his leg
  in a snag. He's yelled out and fortunately some local kids have heard him.
  They've run for help..."

  Rather than:

  "The driver lost control of his truck and ended up in a creek. He got out
  of the cab and tried to swim for it but caught his leg in a snag. He
  yelled out and fortunately some local kids heard him. They ran for
  help..."

  Can one of our esteemed grammarians (Michael Lewis?) please tell me the
  name of this tense? Would anyone like to speculate as to why it has become
  common usage when describing such events and offer an opinion as to its
  appropriateness?

  My limited research says:

  Use the past tense ("The driver lost control") for the immediate past and
  the past perfect tense ("The driver had lost control") for the less
  immediate past. So what is the status of "The driver has lost control"?

  Peter Fagan

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