THE TALKIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20465, 17 January 1930, Page 14

THE TALKIES.

,Sir,—To remove that reproach from British nomenclature I would substitute almost anything. .What about The Gabblers?"' Personally I- prefer "The Yap Yaps!" because whilst you have to get used to its mildly irritant clang, its usago the sanction of local Law and Justice.- Perhaps, though, my final vote would go for "The Synthetics," a name redolent of subtlety; moreover, its inevitable abbreviation —"Syns"—is so appropriately opprobrious. Rhytumtcus.

Sir,—There is no doubt that the word "talkies" is a puerile and inadequate term, but suggested substitutes like "speakies," "vocals" and "phonoplay do not seem likely to gain much favour with the general public. "Vitaphone" and "Movietone" have, of course, been already made copyright by individual corporations. In a recent number of Punch a critic, unkindly, but rather amusingly, has spoken of the "squawkies"; personally, I think "noisies" would be more comprehensive, and for those who know the Hauraki Gulf, the term would hold an additional interest. Oh second thought, however, it would seem that the distinction between "talkies" and "silent films" will no longer he necessary, for present indications have made it almost certain that, in English-speaking countries at least, silent films are to be consigned to the limbo of forgotten things. If so, the word "talkies" will naturally become an obsolete term. The British public at least would then use "films" or "pictures" in reference to the "talkie" screen, and if any distinction was still to bo made the coupled terms "sound films" and "silent films'' would present tho easiest way out. of the difficulty. P. L. Soljak.