From Patrick Harvey:
One that really burns me up: “firestorm of controversy.” I don’t think Congressional debates should be compared with Dresden.
Category Archives: News
Like Abba, only worse
Mark R. Yeatts suggests:
Here are several phrases journalists have used so many times, they
clang against the ear like a hit song from that Swedish Super-group,
Abba:Journalism is a “reflection of reality.” Polls described as “a snapshot in time.“ Any use of “on a daily basis.” Market drops attributed to “Wall Street jitters.” “The schoolhouse door.” “Women, blacks, and other minorities.” “The children” are ubiquitous though we never hear about “the adults” or “the grownups.”
So-called style
Eric S. Harris calls the following shots:
Although I’m not a professional producer of journalism, just a steady
consumer of it (and sausage), I’d like to make a suggestion for your
“if I see this one more time I’ll scream” list.The word is “so-called,” when used in front of a legitimate
technical term or bit of professional jargon. It gives the impression
that the thing in question is not really a whatever-it-is.Preceding it with “so-called” is essentially putting it in quotes,
like someone is trying to pull a fast one. Just because a term is not
widely used (yet) doesn’t mean it has no meaning to anyone. For some
reason, computer terms seem to get this treatment more than others:
so-called routers, so-called compilers, etc,. but not so-called NSAIDs
or so-called MAO inhibitors or so-called multi-vehicle accidents or
so-called meth labs or the so-called Drug War.
Not near or dear
Miccaela Baird Badger sent this missive:
What about “near miss?” Many journalists tend to
use this phrase to describe how two planes or trains nearly hit each
other, or some other sort of narrowly avoided accident. However, wouldn’t
a “near miss” actually occur when two objects nearly miss
each other, but still collide?
(Editor’s note: “near” in this instance implies distance,
not approximation — that is, a miss that was near vs. one that was
far, rather than things that nearly missed, but didn’t. Even so, I’d
ban “near miss” on the grounds that it isn’t a particularly
useful description. How near is near? When an asteroid comes
within a million miles of the earth, scientists call it a near miss.
Two aircraft 500 yards apart is another near miss. “Near”
is one of those weasel words like “almost,” “approximately,”
“several” and its ilk that we use when we’re too lazy to figure
out the precise measurements.
A bitter pill
A judicious reader named Sam sent this along:
Must all Supreme Court dissents be “bitter“? Occasionally we get one that is merely “stinging.” Can’t the justices disagree nicely?
Make these extinct
Rick Palkovic sends a few that were missed by previous contributors:
Literally: I’m hearing this used as an all-around intensifier,
usually when the speaker means just its opposite: figuratively. I
once heard political commentator say: “Congressional leaders
literally held a gun to the President’s head!” Don’t we have
laws against this sort of thing?Et al: Everyone seems to be using this when they mean “etc.”
They seem to think it sounds more intelligent. Better not to use either,
of course, but use “et al.” for people; “etc.”
for things.World-class: A term favored by PR flacks when a more accurate
description is usually “barely competent.”Endangered species: When all the loggers in the Northwest
lose their jobs, they just have to find other jobs — they aren’t
dead, and neither are their relatives, much less the whole human race.
Casual metaphoric use of this phrase trivializes the enormity of driving
a species into extinction.
Under his gun
Robert Markle finds the following in his crosshairs:
As an avid target-shooter, I am amazed when I hear television reporters
explaining that during a particular melee, “shots rang out.”
I have never heard a firearm, irrespective of manufacturer, “ring!”
Also…“Then, he turned the gun on himself.” What’s wrong
with “he shot himself?” After all, turning a gun on oneself
might legitimately describe the act of readjusting a holster.
A free pool of blood
G. Wong offered the following
Some words and phrases are blithely used in the local media without
a second thought as to their sensibilities.Free gift: a gift is free by definition Pool of blood: as in “The man was lying in a pool of
blood”.Action…. against: a catch-all term to mean punishment without
saying much. Sometimes the paper, radio or TV stations will proffer
the details but often won’t, leaving us to read between the lines.
eg “Action will be taken against Anwar Ibrahim.”Nabbed & transparency: as in detained, and public accountability
_ the latter often used in govt.-speak to urge agencies or businesses
to be more transparent.Percentages: often misused when percentage points up or down
are meant. Telekom Malaysia’s pre-tax profit was down 12 percentage
points from 48 percent. Hardly the same as a 12 percent reduction.
Rot in the newsroom
Dave Miller sent this in:
We finally got an official newsroom stylebook, published not in print
but on our SII system, and I eagerly took a look (I’d been here less
than a year). The ‘book contained an entry for “badly decomposed,” noting that would anybody ever describe a dead body as “well decomposed”? The next day, a front-page story told of a woman who had been found dead in her apartment. Her body was — you guessed it — “badly decomposed.” A follow-up story a month later repeated the gaffe.A good thing her house didn’t burn down — we might have had the cops “sifting through the rubble.“
The killer you know
Christopher Palmer, who probably lives in a dangerous neighborhood, will be prepared when the inevitable happens:
When someone commits a terrible crime, the neighbors always say, “He was a quiet guy who always kept to himself” (or some very slight variation). If my neighbor ever commits a crime, I’m telling the reporters, “He was a madman! He wandered around half-naked screaming obscenities! He had sex with goats!” (even if he was a quiet guy who always kept to himself).