the ritual parsing and others doubts

[flowersa]

Hi, I know that Parsing has to do with Grammer, what does it means here in "The ritual parsing"?

What does "Shared" means in this context?

I also didn't understand what is "Real" here maybe an expression?

Thanks :)

"To Obama, the ritual parsing of these kinds of statements was a tedious preoccupation of the media, an obsession that few real Americans shared"

[5jj]

It is more helpful if you quote the full sentence:


"To Obama, the ritual parsing of these kinds of statements was a tedious preoccupation of the media, an obsession that few real Americans shared"

[flowersa]

Yes sorry I didn't notice I didn't copy all the sentences :)

[TheParser]

what does it means here in "The ritual parsing"?

What does "Shared" means in this context?

I also didn't understand what is "Real" here maybe an expression?



"To Obama, the ritual parsing of these kinds of statements was a tedious preoccupation of the media, an obsession that few real Americans shared"

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) I think that the sentence means something like this:

Every time Mr. Obama says something, the media (which many Americans feel are

overly in favor of Mr. Obama) analyze (parse) every word for any possible hidden

meanings. The media, however, do not reflect real Americans (ordinary

Americans) who -- unlike so many journalists -- do not share (have) this obsession

of analyzing every single noun, verb, and adjective in Mr. Obama's words (or even

actions or non-actions!) in order to find some deeper meaning.

(a) So if Mr. Obama says that he likes strawberry ice cream, we "real" Americans

will think: "That's great! Strawberry is, indeed, a delicious flavor. In fact, that reminds

me: I need to buy some ice cream this week." The media, however, might ask:

What does Mr. Obama mean by that statement? Maybe the strawberry growers are

giving him money for his re-election, so he is secretly trying to help them make more

money by cleverly encouraging people to buy more strawberry ice cream. Or maybe

the people who make lemon ice cream are giving money to Mr. Obama's politicial

opponents, so Mr. Obama is trying to get people to eat strawberry ice cream so that

the lemon ice cream makers lose money and will not be able to give so much money to Mr.

Obama's political opponents.

(2) As you can see, whenever someone says something, you can parse it forever.

That's the job of the media. But that's not the job of the ordinary person who has to

make a living every day. So your sentence states that Mr. Obama is not worried by

this ritual (routine and predictable) parsing by the media. It does not influence the majority of "real"

Americans, who (as the saying goes) "couldn't care less."