"One small step for man..." grammar Nazis needed

cleanbluesky

cleanbluesky

cleanbluesky

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060930/ap_on_re_us/moon_quote_3

HOUSTON - That's one small word for astronaut Neil Armstrong, one giant revision for grammar sticklers everywhere.

An Australian computer programmer says he found the missing "a" from Armstrong's famous first words from the moon in 1969, when the world heard the phrase, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

The story was reported in Saturday's editions of the Houston Chronicle.

Some historians and critics have dogged Armstrong for not saying the more dramatic and grammatically correct, "One small step for a man ..." in the version he transmitted to NASA's Mission Control. Without the missing "a," Armstrong essentially said, "One small step for mankind, one giant leap for mankind."

The famous astronaut has maintained he intended to say it properly and believes he did. Thanks to some high-tech sound-editing software, computer programmer Peter Shann Ford might have proved Armstrong right.

Ford said he downloaded the audio recording of Armstrong's words from a NASA Web site and analyzed the statement with software that allows disabled people to communicate through computers using their nerve impulses.

In a graphical representation of the famous phrase, Ford said he found evidence that the missing "a" was spoken and transmitted to NASA.

"I have reviewed the data and Peter Ford's analysis of it, and I find the technology interesting and useful," Armstrong said in a statement. "I also find his conclusion persuasive. Persuasive is the appropriate word."
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Looking at the idea, I think the man in question may be right. I have a good grasp of the English language but would like qualification as to whether "man" can be used in this fashion to describe either "a man" or "mankind"...

With sufficient explanation if possible...
 
I always thought it was correct to use "man" in the sense of talking about the species. The dictionary agrees. "man" by itself without a preposition can't refer to the singular I think.
 
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Yes but if that was what he meant, it's a contradictory sentence. Since in that context man=mankind.

So really the grammar is correct, but the meaning of the sentence is invalid.
 
TBH who gives a damn about his grammar?

Man walked on the moon, his words are insignificant.
 
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/man

1. an adult male person, as distinguished from a boy or a woman.
2. a member of the species Homo sapiens or all the members of this species collectively, without regard to sex: prehistoric man.
3. the human individual as representing the species, without reference to sex; the human race; humankind: Man hopes for peace, but prepares for war.
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You've never heard it used like that?

Edit: what do you mean? The point of the article is that he intended to/said the missing "a" but the recording missed it out somehow.
 
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I'm not sure of the question being asked here. Neil Armstrong seemingly has stood by his statement that he said it right - and this new evidence apparently proves it.
 
Gilly said:
I'm not sure of the question being asked here. Neil Armstrong seemingly has stood by his statement that he said it right - and this new evidence apparently proves it.
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I've just read the quote, but is the jist of it that Armstrong did say "a man" and it was merely comms noise that meant it wasn't transmitted correctly or something?

Jokester
 
I'm sure I remember an interview with Armstrong many years ago when he admitted that he had made the mistake: he spent ages thinking up what he was going to say and rehearsing it, but first-night nerves made him get it wrong.


M
 
Who cares?
JFK called himself a doughnut with his 'Ich bein ein Berliner' speech (apparently) but regardless of it's grammatical weaknesses it still had a great impact, which is all that matters :)
 
Meridian said:
Oh - and since the broadcast was coming from a hanger in Area 51, wasn't there time to re-edit the tape? ;)


M
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:D
JohnnyG said:
Who cares?
JFK called himself a doughnut with his 'Ich bein ein Berliner' speech (apparently) but regardless of it's grammatical weaknesses it still had a great impact, which is all that matters :)
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Good job he didn't make a tour of Germany. He'd be a Doughnut, a Frankfurter, a Hamburger...
 
Shouldn't he actually have said, "This is..." as it was present tense. That is however, if he was actually taking the step at the time and not doing a voice-over having watched the footage in the studio ;) :D
 
seek said:
i don't think he meant a step as in walking...
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I thought he did? The whole point was that despite it being something simple (a single step down the ladder) it was a defining moment of human history.

Jokester
 
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