Can Watching DS Improve Someone's Vocabulary?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

As someone who minored in English Literature in college, I have to say I love this article: 'Dark Shadows' stirred interest in biting words

I've never pinned my initial interest in words (and great writing/complex storytelling) on DS - but now that I think about it, the show just might have been a contributing factor... 

So, what do you think - can watching DS improve your vocabulary?

[MagnusTrask]

I don't hear words on DS that I don't know.    On DSF, sometimes.    I got to dictionary.com once in a while.

Wow, those last few words in the post made my computer freeze for maybe, half an hour?    DSF does that a lot.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Wow, those last few words in the post made my computer freeze for maybe, half an hour?    DSF does that a lot.

As I advised on the Testing board a couple months back, I really do think you need to look into upgrading your computer's version of Java. The forum may be the only Web site that causes you problems right now, but down the line you're likely to find more and more sites will. 

[loril54]

I know that Jonathan Frid  being a classic actor doing  Shakespear, made me want to read the Bard. I also know that I would go to Ashland to see the plays with school groups or family. I loved the plays .

The Oregon Shakespear Festival , is a very well know regional theatre. Now does other plays also, has three theatres.  But the first theatre was an outdoor one. Loved it.  End of the Commercial.

[Sunny_Collins]

I don't know about it improving vocabulary, but some of the introductions to the show were just so eloquently phrased, that I just love to listen to them simply for how well said they are.

Also, Barnabas got some of the most awesome lines to say, and the way he got to say them, because he was from another century, that was neat. Some of the statements he says are almost poetic. 

[Janet the Wicked]

Is English grammar even taught in school anymore? I am very grateful, (though not at the time) that I had the English grammar teacher from hell who drummed adjectives, adverbs, predicates, etc into my skull. I am currenty taking an on line refresher course and doing very well, if I do say so myself.
My better half insists that my grasp of good grammar comes from watching old movies. She may be right. Although I do have a nasty tendency to moider the English language, on purpose, of course.

[Nancy]

I know that the DS record rocked my world.  The recitation of poetry by Jonathan Frid made me want to do that myself and find out more about those poems.  I bought recordings of readings of different things by actors as a result of this initial interest.

nancy

[Lydia]

One of the few things I remember clearly from watching Dark Shadows when it originally ran is Barnabas saying, in 1897, that he was there (or doing what he was doing) because he had a vested interest in the future of the Collins family.  I didn't know what that meant, so I remembered it, but I didn't bother to go find out what it meant.

[michael c]

my personal voodoo with the show is strange...

i'm not otherwise remotely interested in vampires,witches,the occult and so on.

but something about the show caught my fancy when i stumbled upon it on the sci-fi channel about five years ago.my audio and visual sensory perceptions were stimulated and intrigued.

visually the sets,the costumes("why do these women who live in this nowhere town in maine have up-to-the-minute sixties fashions and hairstyles?" i asked myself) and something as random as how the closing credits might linger on something as ordinary as a telephone.

audio the stunning opening and closing themes and other musical cues composed by robert cobert,the silly sound effects,but what most struck(and strikes)me was the quality of the writing,the articulation of the characters,the perfect,crisp diction.with many of the actors being theater trained the way the characters express themselves often comes across as grand and even almost regal.

so to answer the question at hand watching d.s. didn't improve my vocabulary per se but the quality of the writing and the actors articulation of it are very much part of the recipe for my fondness.

[ClaudeNorth]

Well, if it weren't for DS, I wouldn't know how a bleeder valve works, nor would I know about élan vital or central venous pressures... 

[Mark Rainey]

Well, I don't know about vocabulary, but learning about claret cup, which is far too fruity for my taste, only reinforced my appreciation of the dry gin martini.

[Brandon Collins]

This is a great question!

Personally, watching anything can improve your vocabulary in some fashion. You can learn something from nearly everything. But I'm with mscbryk in that the dialogue is what really catches me. I think that every character that was featured on the show had at least ONE great line of dialogue somewhere throughout their stint on the show. Some of the most memorable are Barnabas' story about Josette's death when he's telling it to Vicki and Carolyn just after he's arrived. Quentin always had a good quip to satisfy a grin. Judith, Namoi, and Elizabeth always had wonderfully awesome "repressed maiden" lines, or quick insults (in Judith and Elizabeth's case) to provide.

One line that I will always remember is one of Quentin's, that goes "Come into the parlor, said the spider to the fly," or something like that. I believe he says it to Judith during her reign of power. Excellent.

[Sunny_Collins]

audio the stunning opening and closing themes and other musical cues composed by robert cobert,the silly sound effects,but what most struck(and strikes)me was the quality of the writing,the articulation of the characters,the perfect,crisp diction.with many of the actors being theater trained the way the characters express themselves often comes across as grand and even almost regal.

so to answer the question at hand watching d.s. didn't improve my vocabulary per se but the quality of the writing and the actors articulation of it are very much part of the recipe for my fondness.

You said so very well what I was trying to say, Mscbryk!

The way the actors portrayed their characters was perfect, giving the show that extra bit of intrigue and depth.

[Roland]

I don't know about "Dark Shadows" so much in this regard, but there was one 60's series that DEFINITELY helped me to expand my vocabluary..and that was "Lost in Space."

As portrayed by Johnathan Harris, Dr. Smith was a fount of sophisticated vocabulary and he would often send me racing for the dictionary tp look up definitions.  Harris was apparently a master at devising clever alliterative phrases, and the writers were more than happy to give him free rein in that area (most of these phrases came out as insults aimed at the Robot).

Blithering bumpkin...ignominious ignoramus...pusillanimous pipsqueak...These are just a few of the examples I can come up with off the top of my head.

Yes, strange as it may seem, I credit much of my early vocabulary-building to Harris and Dr. Smith.   

[Willie Loomis]

i've learned what a kearn is.    thank goodness.   i have heard that word so many times after i heard it on DS at least i know what it is.

i also learned to say "Not atol."

I also learned good manners:   Miss Winters, Mrs. Stoddard, Mr. Collins, Master Collins.

i also learned paralell time (might not learned how to spell it, but i know what it is.)