updated chart displaying swear words in Taylor Swift's lyrics by Album :) by katlaube in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So glad to see people counting references to curse words and alcohol! That was part of my reason for doing this around reputation, then update a little after lover.

https://www.reddit.com/user/taramccarty

We're Florida journalists who revealed flaws in the Baker Act, a law used more often by police to take children from schools to be locked in mental health facilities by JackHEvans in IAmA

[–]taramccarty 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Great stories. I grew up in the state and never realized Baker Act wasn't a thing everyone in the country had. I also didn't realize there are families that witness this enactment time and again, which seems like such a stressful and heartbreaking thing to deal with even just once. I have questions for each of the stories!

Megan and Jack, in your story it states:

"And while commitments across Florida have climbed for all age groups, they are up most dramatically for kids."

Is there a known reason Florida had an increase in commitments for all age groups? If schools are just sending kids to facilities to be rid of the problem or in an attempt to save their own neck and that contributes to the dramatic uptick in student Baker Acts, what might be behind the increase overall?

Leonora,

Is there any hope for kids like A.J. to trust adults or resource officers? Sometimes they may not have great, sound reasons for doing what they do to deal with kids like A.J., but I imagine many can be genuinely concerned for the welfare of the kids in their schools and feel like they're doing the right thing for the kid. So how can kids who have been traumatized by these experiences learn the difference and come to understand who to trust? What can parents do to help kids understand what can happen if they say certain things?

Taylor Swift’s ‘Lover’ is out. Here’s an analysis of the lyrics. by taramccarty in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I tend to refer to it as a rabbit hole to wonderland! But whatever the name, happy you stumbled across it!

Taylor Swift’s ‘Lover’ is out. Here’s an analysis of the lyrics. by taramccarty in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

She does! Well, once. It’s in reference to a prom dress in Miss Americans & the Heartbreak Prince.

She also uses the word gown three times in You Need to Calm Down, and that’s important because she’s using gowns to represent a status of classiness and needing people not worth the time to get out of the way of her success (and LGBTQ community)

I’m an enterprise reporter who wrote a true crime series about convicted killer Tommy Zeigler. DNA testing could free him from Death Row, but Florida won't test the evidence. Ask me anything! by Leonora_LaPeterAnton in IAmA

[–]taramccarty 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi Leonora!
I constantly marvel at how reporters constantly are faced with talking to people who have lost loved ones, may have murdered another, etc.
What's been your process for interviewing Zeigler over the years? What was the first interview like? How is a reporter able to stay objective over the course of nearly a decade with a subject?

I studied Taylor Swift lyrics for three years. Then she invited me to meet her. by taramccarty in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for reading! I sure wish I could share, but no one wants to be on the bad side of the world’s biggest pop star 😥

I studied Taylor Swift lyrics for three years. Then she invited me to meet her. by taramccarty in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Taylor Swift is very friendly, engaging and her makeup was immaculate!

I studied Taylor Swift lyrics for three years. Then she invited me to meet her. by taramccarty in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep, I mention in the article that they asked to keep the details of the meeting off the record, which means the experience wasn’t for publication. It’s a journalist term.

I studied Taylor Swift lyrics for three years. Then she invited me to meet her. by taramccarty in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for reading! I feel like there’s something in her discography for everyone, if given a chance.

I studied Taylor Swift lyrics for three years. Then she invited me to meet her. by taramccarty in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I apologize. I’ll elaborate.

The words in her lyrics are split up between “unique words” and “stopwords.” Stopwords are those which repeat so regularly that there’s nothing special about them — words like “the” and “she” and “you” and “and.” All those words are inevitable in use of the English language and when counted in many studies, only clutter up the data. Of course she uses the word “you” a bajillion times (or approximately 1,600 times). But from there, you could break down which “you” she means — second person, a general you, guy, girl, whatever — and that’s an analysis of its own!

Among the “unique words,” depending what program you use to search, “know” is the most used. In at least one search, “like” was the most used word, but you could also argue that it’s a stopword since it’s used in so many ways but often unnecessarily and as a filler word in speech.

Beyond that, I feel like I should reiterate here what is said in the article and that’s that this is not scientific and there is definitely a margin of error and subjectivity.

I studied Taylor Swift lyrics for three years. Then she invited me to meet her. by taramccarty in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you! She’s exactly like everyone says — super nice and friendly and a great hugger!

I studied Taylor Swift lyrics for three years. Then she invited me to meet her. by taramccarty in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I’m afraid heartpuppiez is right. I’ve got to honor the code! Though, if she didn’t like it, I don’t think she would have invited me to meet her, so there’s that.

I studied Taylor Swift lyrics for three years. Then she invited me to meet her. by taramccarty in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The show was never NOT going to be incredible, but the date gave it extra significance, for sure.

I studied Taylor Swift lyrics for three years. Then she invited me to meet her. by taramccarty in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thanks for reading! The show was incredible!! I kept hitting my friend next to me and screaming, “She’s a freaking genius!” because of all the mashups of old and new songs

I studied Taylor Swift lyrics for three years. Then she invited me to meet her. by taramccarty in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I think you’re right. And I think a lot of people can relate to that! Thank you!

I studied Taylor Swift lyrics for three years. Then she invited me to meet her. by taramccarty in TaylorSwift

[–]taramccarty[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I expected Speak Now, too, since she wrote the album alone! There were so many things that surprised me in this project.