My stars! Watching your mouth on 'Antiques Roadshow'
February 24, 2016 8:16 AM   Subscribe

We have been watching a lot of "Antiques Roadshow" in this household — usually one or two episodes a night for a few months solid. I am curious about people's reactions and the language they choose to express their surprise.

I have seen this AV Club article, which gives a lot of great background on the Roadshow, but doesn't address one particular angle: the language people use when they are surprised. Specifically, are people coached to avoid saying "Oh my God"?

Some people are remarkably stoic or stunned into silence. I get that. Some people are effusive, which I also understand. When they're effusive, you often hear things like "Oh my goodness" and "Oh my gosh." You also hear things like "Good night!" and "My heavenly stars!"

Things like these last two expressions are things I either thought people didn't really say anymore, or things that sound so odd to my ears that they call attention to the fact that the person isn't just saying "Oh my God" (or maybe even "Oh my gosh.")

Don't get me wrong. If I was told my thrift store vase was worth $10,000, I'd want to say "Holy shit!" But I (probably) wouldn't. Or at least if I did, I wouldn't expect them to air it. So I understand that people can restrain themselves. And I certainly understand that people may have more reservations than I do about saying "Oh my God" or something saltier. Also, I am younger than many of the people on the roadshow by a few decades and have lived in cities for a long time now. So if that accounts for it, so be it.

That said, here's what I'd be particularly interested to know: Are people told beforehand not to say "Oh my God"? Are they instructed to think creatively with their expressions of surprise?

Yes, I can imagine that anything that doesn't fit the Roadshow mold ends up on the cutting room floor, but essentially I'm curious how much of the editing happens before the words even leave people's mouths.
posted by veggieboy to Media & Arts (18 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
"oh my stars" "good night" "goodness me" "holey socks" and other substitutions for "oh my god" are very popular and very much in use in more religious/rural areas even among younger people. i often forget and get all manner of dirty looks for my casual "oh my god"s when i go to my mormon or church of christ's relatives places.
posted by nadawi at 8:34 AM on February 24, 2016 [9 favorites]


Are you watching the UK Antiques Roadshow? Most people appearing are solidly middle-class who would never dream of swearing in public. Heck, I tend to stick to "oh sugar" when I am anywhere and I've only lived in the UK for a decade. It's a cultural & social class thing.

If it's a US version, disregard everything I just said.
posted by kariebookish at 8:51 AM on February 24, 2016 [4 favorites]


I think it has more to do with the venues where the show takes place, in cities like Nashville, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, and so on.
posted by aught at 8:52 AM on February 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


I too am curious as to whether "Oh my God!" is verboten. Having watched a ton of HGTV, I've witnessed many a tortured "oh my gosh!" and thought that it sounded forced.
posted by Mr.Me at 9:01 AM on February 24, 2016


Another vote for the regional aspect. My family's from rural Tennessee, where everyone goes to church and no one would ever dream of saying Oh My God. Instead, they say Oh My Word. Sometimes you'll hear Good Lord. My mother moved away 45+ years ago and she considers Oh My God 100% unacceptable.
posted by mochapickle at 9:07 AM on February 24, 2016 [7 favorites]


(I have uncles from there who really do say "Good night!" to express disbelief or shock.)
posted by mochapickle at 9:09 AM on February 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


I think it's both location and that many of the participants are older. Having lived in both Tennessee and Texas there are certainly pockets of people that who would drop an f-bomb before they'd break out Lord's name style cusses.

I moved to Tennessee from Philly where cursing is both an art and a science. The "oh, sugar!" and "fudge!" were a shock to me.
posted by 26.2 at 9:39 AM on February 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


mochapickle's comment reminds me of a religious coworker I had in the South who said "oh my word" quite a bit. Another coworker commented how she hated when people "took the lord's name in vain."
posted by radioamy at 9:40 AM on February 24, 2016


Based on my own vast experience --- I've attended a whopping total of two Antiques Roadshow events --- I don't think it's as much the city/locale as it is the crowd and the crowd's attitude: I have rarely seen such polite crowds, no matter how much line-standing and general waiting-around they're going through. The attendees are all there to enjoy themselves, to show off their stuff and goggle at other folks' things; everybody spends their time in those lines star-gazing for their favorite appraisers, watching the to-be-televised segments get filmed and talking about all the stuff going on around them. Nobody is there under duress, everybody wants to be there, and it's just a generally fun time.

That said: yeah, folks do swear a little in surprise..... and Roadshow is ready to bleep out anything that needs bleeping, you betcha. So: you've got a big ol' bunch of happy, stress-free folks who are having a grand old time, hoping their goodies will be picked for TV. They're also aware their being filmed, and on their best behavior on that account.
posted by easily confused at 9:43 AM on February 24, 2016 [12 favorites]


They're also aware their being filmed, and on their best behavior on that account.

Yeah, exactly. I bet there's some mild class anxiety going on, too, that's prompting some affectation / overcompensation. They're bringing in their old stuff, maybe stuff connected with family lineage, to be judged by people "in the know", who maybe have fancy backgrounds. They're doing this with the intention of pegging a value on their stuff (and maybe implicitly, by extension, their family), with the idea it might be sold at some point in the future. (Not that they will sell it, or have to, or anything. But that's the obvious reason for being there.) And all that's going to be on TV. And, they know it doesn't look great to get too excited about the possible value (because caring more about sentiment, art etc. is better, right)
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:41 AM on February 24, 2016 [4 favorites]


I.e. I think they probably are under a fair bit of duress and are highly self-monitoring as a result.
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:47 AM on February 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


I used to work for one of the auction houses most of the cast works at and there are a couple things.

First these are people who are into antiques and collectibles, this is a very polite and well spoken community.

Second it's regional, and most of the country outside the north east and west coast minds their p's and q's.

Third it's not all live, they do some re-shoots. Even the shown segments are because there has already been one meeting at the desk, the expert saw something cool and took the person over to a filming table; this person then signs documents to be on TV and sits down and they start the segment, re-hashing some of what they said over at the desk. These are nervous, well mannered people.

Fourth, and maybe saddest, they film a LOT of segments, far more than WGBH is going to put into a show. If you say bad words? easy peasy, they cut your segment.
posted by French Fry at 11:32 AM on February 24, 2016 [4 favorites]


Once you've got kids or you spend a lot of time around kids most people develop pretty solid self-censorship skills. Except for my father, thanks for that hilarious first grade swearing story dad.
posted by bq at 12:05 PM on February 24, 2016


RE: the lack of "Oh my God":

I think this is partly a cross-border thing; I am Canadian, like you, and I always find it weird that in G-rated (or even PG-rated) American TV shows, reality shows, news programs etc., the actors/participants almost NEVER say "Oh my God." From my observations, this is a Thing on American TV and it is not so much of a Thing on Canadian TV.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:18 PM on February 24, 2016


My mom barely ever goes to church, but was raised in a time and place that "taking the lord's name in vain" was absolutely 100% verboten. She's YELLED at me when I've said "Jesus Christ." Older Midwestern and southern ladies really are that careful to never ever say oh my god.
posted by MsMolly at 6:37 AM on February 25, 2016


I was raised not to say "Oh my God." Even though my family itself was freethinking, our extended family was all religious and it was something that was grating and rude to them. Also, it was something my parents felt could easily offend someone else inadvertently. I also have had a career in various teaching settings and as a result adopted a lot of non-offensive curses: "rats," "sugar," "good grief," and "oh dear." I say "oh my God" more now, coastal/urban lifestyle and all, but I still consider it a little rude and don't say it in places where there's a diverse public audience or people I don't know well.
posted by Miko at 8:11 AM on February 25, 2016


(Oh, and a side note: if you get tickets to attend an AR event? The longest lines seem to be folks with paintings and guns.... there are TONS of both.)
posted by easily confused at 8:28 AM on February 25, 2016


Late response: Watching the Minneapolis episode just now I heard a woman say "Oh my god, Oh my gosh!" when finding out her ring was worth $140k to $160k and remembered your question. So there's that!
posted by Crystalinne at 12:17 AM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


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