| Re: Boston Globe's Top 50 SF Shows of All Time |
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Group: alt.startrek · Group Profile
Author: JaxtrawJaxtraw Date: Mar 7, 2007 16:22
Anybody wrote:
> In article 4ax.com>, Brian Thorn
> cox.net> wrote:
>>> On Thu, 08 Mar 2007 09:03:50 +1300, Anybody
>> anywhere-anytime.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Boston.com (the online service of the Boston Globe) has compiled a
>>>> list of what they claim are the top 50 TV science fiction and
>>>> fantasy shows of all time. >>>
>>> "Of all time"!?!?!
>>>
>>> It's a bit premature to do such a list. There's two Star Wars TV
>>> shows in the near future
>>
>> Yeah, but they could end up like "Young Indiana Jones Chronicles".
>> Especially if the "creative" team from the three latest movies is
>> involved. Bleh.
>
> WOOSH!! :-\
>
> The point wasn't whether or not the new Star Wars shows in particular
> would make the list ... the point was that time is far from finished,
> so saying theses are the tops shows "of all time" is plainly
> ridiculous - there's still MANY MANY MANY shows yet to be made. It's
> almost as silly as the "World Series" that has no teams from any
> other country.
The phrase "of all time" in normal conversation and writing carries an
implicit "so far". It's a phrase commonly used in the vernacular, and what
counts in language is the meaning of a word or phrase *as generally
understood*. Many words and phrases have meanings which are not the same as
their literal interpretation; for instance if a woman describes her boss as
a "male chauvinist pig", both she and her listeners would not expect that to
be interpreted as meaning that he is actually an animal of the family
suidae. Likewise, if the woman's boss declares her to be "hot" he is not
actually referring to her thermal emissivity.
Anybody; everybody else understands that when the phrase "of all time" is
used, it actually means "of the examples of the type which have occurred
previous to now". You may also note that since the future has not yet
occurred, those times later than now are not yet actualised. So "all time"
can only refer to that time which has actually occurred; automatically
excluding future events.
Hope this helps.
Ian
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