From Mordecai Specktor:
There’s the frequently used description of Ross Perot as a “maverick
billionaire.” (Maybe this is more an oxymoron than a cliche).“At this point in time,” which means “now,”
has come into the lexicon.
Monthly Archives: February 2004
Rocking, rolling
From Keith Ammann:
When a recent double bombing at an abortion clinic occurred, I was
reminded of something about bombs: Bombs ALWAYS “rock”
their targets. Of the three daily papers in our metro area, ALL THREE
had some variation of “Two bombs rock abortion clinic.”
Two ran the AP story, which used the word “rock” in the
lead, while one ran the Washington Post story, which also used the
word “rock” in the lead. And the night before, on the local
news, the anchor woman said that bombers had “hit” an abortion
clinic -then BACKED UP and CORRECTED herself, using the word “rocked”
instead.The thing is, you never actually see a building rocking back and
forth after being bombed. Usually it just sits there, with a big hole
in it.
No difference
From Andy McCann:
What a difference a day makes. (Alternatively, “a year,”
etc.)
Dreams to nightmares
From Ed Hersh
I’m a former newspaper reporter, now a producer at ABC News, and
have spent the better part of my career collecting bad TV cliches.
In fact, I once produced a noon newscast on KYW TV in Philly on a
July 4th, and it rained. I counted no less than THREE uses of “the
rain didn’t dampen the spirits of…” during the first 10 minutes
of the program.Here are a few more:
…Only time will tell It was supposed to xxx’s dream house. But last night, a fire turned xxx’s dream… into a nightmare. Roads are slippery, so officials say if you don’t HAVE to go out… for gosh sakes, don’t. Negotiations are continuing, but both sides say they’re prepared for a long strike. “It sounded like a freight train,” said one terrified
resident.People here say they’re hoping for the best… but preparing for the worst.
Dr. Death
From Sonya Booth
My personal favorite, seen in fine newspapers everywhere (including, recently, the Chicago Tribune): Death took no holiday…
Spark, spearhead, scramble, nestle
From Paul Bonner:
I’ve been keeping a list. It seems to me that verbs are the part
of speech that most often become hackneyed in newswriting. I think
it must be to cover up the lack of any concrete action in most stories:
spark (as in: “The commissioner’s action sparked a lively
debate among those who signed up to speak at the meeting.”)spearhead (as in: “Pfalphzer spearheaded the fund-raising
drive.”ax (as in: “The item was axed from the budget”) tapped (for “chosen,” as in: “Klutzwater was tapped
for the position.”)scramble (as in: “Officials were left scrambling. …”) nestle (as in: “Nestled between a railroad trestle and
a gulch, the seedy cafe makes what must surely be its last stand.”)
Treacly TV
From Jeffrey Whitmore:
Ban forever the wrap-up line so loved by TV news people:
“. . . and that’s what it’s all about!” It’s typically
uttered (with a smarmy smile) after a heartwarming shot of an indigent
family eating day-old bread donated by the corporate sponsors of a
golf tournament in Palm Springs,Pebble Beach, or on the north forty
of the Taj Mahal.And do away with its sickening brethren:
. . . “but the big [or real] winner in the event was charity. On reflection, Jeffrey added the following:
Soon after I sent the “charity” cliche I recalled another,
possibly more cloying one. It’s the spunky lede that begins with a
truism. Next comes an invitation to the reader to agree. And then
comes the zinger. For example:“Real gourmets don’t drink red wine with fish, right? Wrong!”
Another purgative worthy of banishment:
Nothing could be further from the truth. I just ran an “exact phrase” Hotbot web search on the expression
and came up with 2,961 citations. For each of the many I checked out,
I could readily imagine fifty billion or so statements that were further
from the truth.
Dumps, rashes
Joe Phelan posits the following:
How come a winter storm always “dumps” however
many inches? And why is there a…“Rash” of burglaries or whatever?