Pat Curry’s all-time pet peeve:
“It was deja vu all over again.” Deja vu is the sensation
that you’ve been, done or said something when you’ve haven’t before
(as so wonderfully described in the Diana Ross song of the same name).
I’m forever seeing stories in which people who did something 20 years
ago reunite and the experience is described as deja vu.
Larry Sommers
of the Public Affairs Office, Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs,
shares three of his pet peeves:
“Prior to” – Military memo writers never say “before” when they can say “prior to.” It’s always something like, “Be sure to move your vehicles from the north parking lot prior to 1600 hours, when
the night crew will be be plowing.” This manner of writing creeps
into military journalism, e.g.: “Sgt. Kevlar is seen here polishing
his boots prior to reporting for duty.”“Tragic death” – On both local and national television,
and in quite a few newspapers as well, it seems death = tragedy. We
know, of course, that only a few deaths (Oedipus, Hamlet, Buddy Holly)
are actually tragic; some deaths (Gauguin, Chuckles the Clown) are
banal; some (Osama bin Laden, the Crocodile Hunter) might be satisfying;
and ALL THE REST – roughly 99.9 percent of all human deaths – are
just deaths, no adjectives need apply.“Yada-yada-yada,” So-and-so added/ noted/ explained/ commented/ remarked/ pointed out. Fortunately, more typical of
student journalists than of professionals. More than nine times out
of ten, “said” is the better choice. It is the exception to the rule
that we should look for more lively verbs. One would usually prefer
the smack and tang of the quote itself to draw the reader’s attention,
without being upstaged by some fancy-schmancy verb-of-assertion hovering
just beyond the quotation marks. Of course, that assumes the writer
has been able to discover an interesting and relevant quote somewhere
amid the speaker’s ruminations.
Samantha Lynn declares:
The thing that’s been driving me most berserk lately about the deteriorating educational level of the talking heads is this sudden habit of saying
“five-month anniversary” of things. After all, “anniversary”
is from the root “annum”, meaning YEAR… The only thing that bothers
me more is when the same idiots compound their stupidity by saying
“first-year anniversary” of things…
Jeanne Yocum, public relations practitioner, suggests:
If a lowly PR person can be allowed in here: When/why did “utilize” become preferable to the simpler and…..errrr….highly useful “use?”
A pox on whoever started this nonsense.
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.
Kenneth D. Williams is uniquely suited to state as follows:
The absolute, number one misuse of a word that I have ever seen or
heard is that of the ubiquitous “unique.”If something is unique, it is by definition the only one of its kind. It cannot be “very unique” or “extremely unique” or have any other word there to describe it.It is just “unique.” One-of-a-kind is one-of-a-kind,
right?Number two would be nauseous. “I’m nauseous,” people
say. Do they really mean to say that their looks make other people want
to throw up? I believe the word they are looking for is “nauseated.”Also, I think you have forgotten a few phrases that should be banned.
Not necessarily written ones, but phrases that I hear misspoken every
day.
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.
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.
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.“
Luke Seeman (easily one of the coolest guys on the planet) sends these along:
“Sketchy,” as in, “kinda sketchy.” What
the hell does it mean?“Issues” when people mean to say “problems.” And of course “enough said” and its cousin, “’nuff
said.” People who use them invariably mean, “There is more
to be said but I can’t think of it now.”