Brian Baresch declares:<\/p>\n
\nI was distressed to pick up my newspaper this morning and find two,
\npossibly three egregious cliches in display type, over a pretty good
\nstory about a local woman who turned 108. (Interesting woman, actually
\n— she’s in a wheelchair, but only because she broke her hip two years
\nago kicking a soccer ball.)
\n
\nOn a 1A blurb reefer was the headline “On her 108th, she’s still going
\nstrong<\/b>.” That “still going strong” is one of the worst cliches about
\nan old person, in my mind. And that made it past a slot, at least one
\nnews editor and at least one proofreader to get to my front yard. (The
\nstory itself makes a similar stumble: “Her hearing is still<\/b> good”.
\nC’mon, drop the “still”. Otherwise, though, it avoids most of the
\npitfalls involved in writing about centenarians.)
\n
\nThen on the metro cover, in what looks like 60-point type: “She’s 108
\nyears young<\/b>.” Yech. Completing the trifecta, the deck reads “She’s
\nlived a full life — but it’s far from over.<\/b>”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brian Baresch declares: I was distressed to pick up my newspaper this morning and find two, possibly three egregious cliches in display type, over a pretty good story about a local woman who turned 108. (Interesting woman, actually — she’s … Continue reading