# Hey, ad people-- words mean things!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 23, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225 "2008-10-23T16:55:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/61 "2008-10-24T21:29:14Z")
What is Jeopardy, **Chimera**? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/62 "2008-10-24T21:41:37Z")
Speaking of glass houses **Biggirl** , have you figured out whether you have a prostate? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/63 "2008-10-24T21:44:49Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Red is my favorite flavor of Kool-aid. Followed closely by purple. This is not a misuse of language, this is a correction of one of the worst word meaning abuses on record. I mean, do you know of any cherries or grapes that taste like that? You reminded me of an old _Roseanne_ episode where she conned Darlene’s Home Economics class into cooking them dinner. HS Girl: What kind of salad dressing would you like, Mr. Conner? Dan: (confused) I don’t know. Nobody’s ever asked me that before. Roseanne: Oh, you’re just confusing him. Orange or Red, Dan? Dan: Oh! Orange. Roseanne: It’s the 1,000 Island in the fridge over there. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/64 "2008-10-24T22:49:58Z")
> [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](#): > > Speaking of glass houses **Biggirl** , have you figured out whether you have a prostate? Yeah, that was embarrassing. Thanks for bringing it up. P.S. It wasn’t me, it was my then landlord. She’s a nice lady. It was cervical cancer she had, not prostrate. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/65 "2008-10-24T22:52:22Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Yeah, that was embarrassing. Thanks for bringing it up. Well, words mean things. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/66 "2008-10-24T23:56:49Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > _Enters batshit insane mode…_ > > I defy you to prove to me that words have any meaning beyond what we want to give them at any moment in time. And since they don’t have any fixed meaning, this means that you can’t use words to prove your point. > > Go ahead, just try it! Prove that words have specific meanings without using any words. You can’t! Bwahahahaha!!! > > 😃 _Somebody_ has read _ **1984** _ once too often I see … … or maybe it was _Alice’s Adventures_ ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/67 "2008-10-25T02:22:19Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > I don’t have a problem with this one - if it can describe varieties of subatomic particles or versions of an operating system, then types of shaving cream isn’t much of a stretch. Flavors of operating system or subatomic particles are not less asinine than shaving creams. None of them should be doing that. I say we sue them until they stop. And go after Apple for trying to force Funnest on us while we’re at it. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/68 "2008-10-25T13:38:57Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Then there’s the one for some sort of diet frozen food in which one chef tells the other the reason their frozen crap is so delicious is that she’s “added flavor to taste.” What the fuck does that even mean? Will she be adding sound to noise next? Touch to feel? I think this is specifically a referral to the common recipe instruction to add something ‘to taste’. In other words, they’re not going to give you a specific amount of salt/pepper/cheese/whatever to add, just add as much as you’d like. It’s most commonly used for salt, paper and other late stage, condimentish additions to a recipe. So, the chef in this case, added flavor (where flavor is jokingly being treated as a single item) in keeping with her excellent professional taste – the implication being that it’s not just tasteless frozen crap but that a chef has seasoned it appropriately. It’s probably still tasteless frozen crap, and the major ingredient of ‘flavor’ is probably ‘salt’, but hey, I’m not saying they’re honest, just that they’re not as grammatically out to lunch as it might appear. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/69 "2008-10-25T16:10:26Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Then there’s the one for some sort of diet frozen food in which one chef tells the other the reason their frozen crap is so delicious is that she’s “added flavor to taste.” What the fuck does that even mean? Will she be adding sound to noise next? Touch to feel? Adding stuff “to taste” is a fairly common phrase. Have you never looked in a cookbook? It’s shorthand for “according to your personal preferences” (ie., taste). [http://www.digsmagazine.com/nourish/nourish\_addtotaste.htm](http://www.digsmagazine.com/nourish/nourish_addtotaste.htm) ETA: Sominabitch! I knew I should have checked page 2 as well. Damn you **jacquilynne**! ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/70 "2008-10-25T16:50:12Z")
The lady is NOT adding salt to taste or pepper to taste, as I stated in the OP. She said she added flavor to taste, that’s why the frozen crap is delicious. How, exactly, is that done? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/71 "2008-10-25T17:57:19Z")
With salt. Lots and lots of salt. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/72 "2008-10-25T17:58:16Z")
That’s the part that’s supposed to be funny. She added the mythical ingredient “flavor” as if it were just one thing that all the other companies don’t bother with. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/73 "2008-10-25T21:31:13Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > The lady is NOT adding salt to taste or pepper to taste, as I stated in the OP. She said she added flavor to taste, that’s why the frozen crap is delicious. How, exactly, is that done? Haven’t you ever looked at the ingredients to things and seen “Natural and Artificial Flavors”? See, they’re missing the boat there. Instead of just telling you to add flavor to taste and leaving you to figure out how, they could be offering you little bottles of flavor to add. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/74 "2008-10-26T18:51:07Z")
> [@jacquilynne](#): > > That’s the part that’s supposed to be funny. She added the mythical ingredient “flavor” as if it were just one thing that all the other companies don’t bother with. Ah, it’s “commercial funny” - as in, completely lame and stupid. That’s so steeped! ---
**Author:** ![moonstarssun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@moonstarssun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonstarssun)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/75 "2008-10-27T03:33:17Z")
> [@A\_Priori\_Tea](#): > > Trust me when I say: to the vast, vast majority of advertising and marketing people I have ever met or worked with, words do NOT mean things. Demographics mean things, purchase response means things, but words mean NOTHING. > > And yes, this makes me angry. Now, now, don’t lump all of us together into one horrifying glob. There’s a difference between account staff, market researchers, etc and the creatives who actually write the ads. I’m willing to bet that the copywriters who worked on these ads weep when they see how they turn out. Keep in mind, huge agencies have a gauntlet that an ad has to run through before it gets produced. The client and about five levels of people (or more) will take your clever, well-written idea and mangle it just a little at each level. By the time it’s on the air, it may well have lost all meaning. I agree–every word counts. And it pains me to see commercials that waste them. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/76 "2008-10-27T04:32:05Z")
> [@j666](#): > > _Somebody_ has read _ **1984** _ once too often I see … > > … or maybe it was _Alice’s Adventures_ Frindle, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/77 "2008-10-27T08:31:04Z")
I don’t understand a single thing the OP is saying. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/78 "2008-10-27T13:56:24Z")
Bachelor Chow! Now with flavor! My favorite abuse of language in marketing showed up in an article a couple of years ago about all the pizza chains and their “hand-tossed” varieties. Turns out exactly none of them are actually hand-tossed. ---
**Author:** ![the\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/79 "2008-10-27T14:05:07Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Ah, it’s “commercial funny” - as in, completely lame and stupid. That’s so steeped! Sorry - couldn’t let this one slip by…Snicker. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225/80 "2008-10-27T14:12:21Z")
The one ad for that scam “Home Based Business” company, in which the black guy says, and I fucking quote, “Last year, I made over a hundred thousand dollars a year…” (The quote doesn’t always start with “Last Year,” but the full quote does.) Well, with a long-term track record like that, I can’t NOT call! Joe [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-ad-people-words-mean-things/469225.md?page=5)