Author Topic: I hate journalistic writing (Read 95265 times)

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #325 on:** July 17, 2010, 01:03:41 AM »

Earthquake rattles DC area; journalists get to use the word temblor again

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #326 on:** July 18, 2010, 04:24:30 AM »

Strong earthquake shakes Alaska; Yahoo News gets to use the word temblor twice!

Jonathon · « **Reply #327 on:** July 18, 2010, 10:02:57 AM »

Of 103 instances of temblor in Mark Davies' corpus, 91 occurred in newspapers, magazines, or TV or radio news programs. One of those was a reference to the Temblor Range. Twelve were from fiction, including three that were actually Spanish. Not a single instance in academic writing.

And I just remembered that I own a copy of the Associated Press Stylebook, so I looked up temblor. It referred me to earthquake, where I found this:

Quote

OTHER TERMS: The word temblor (not tremblor) is a synonym for earthquake.

Brinestone · « **Reply #328 on:** July 18, 2010, 10:59:43 AM »

This explains so much!

Brinestone · « **Reply #329 on:** July 21, 2010, 10:07:06 AM »

From a link (the actual headline wasn't that bad): 90,000 lb. chicken nugget recall

Presumably it was recalled for causing a choking hazard.

Jonathon · « **Reply #330 on:** July 21, 2010, 10:30:20 AM »

Sounds more like a crushing hazard.

pooka · « **Reply #331 on:** July 23, 2010, 08:49:11 AM »

Or even a temblor hazard.

Jonathon · « **Reply #332 on:** August 16, 2010, 03:02:06 PM »

Crash blossom du jour:

Quote

Days from death, Fla. wildlife officials free plastic jar that was stuck on bear cub's head

Brinestone · « **Reply #333 on:** August 16, 2010, 04:30:19 PM »

That's not a crash blossom but a misplaced modifier, no?

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #334 on:** August 16, 2010, 05:33:30 PM »

That's awesome. "Who's 'days from death?' Oh - Florida wildlife officials. Oh, no, wait - a plastic jar. Oh - no, wait!"

Jonathon · « **Reply #335 on:** August 16, 2010, 05:33:45 PM »

Yeah, you're right—it's not really a crash blossom. It's more than just a misplaced modifier, though. "Freed bear cub's head from plastic jar" would be not only simpler and far less clunky, but also more accurate. Was it really the jar that needed freeing?

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #336 on:** August 16, 2010, 09:02:01 PM »

In a heroic attempt to contain a plague deadly to humans, but harmless to bear cubs, Teddy the Bear Cub stuck a plastic jar full of plague bacilli to his head. Wildlife officials, misinterpreting his heroic actions as tomfoolery, freed the plastic jar, releasing the plague. The hapless officials are now days from death.

As are we all.

Scott R · « **Reply #337 on:** August 23, 2010, 10:49:40 AM »

Quote

The backyard mechanic accused of being the "Grim Sleeper" serial killer pleaded not guilty Monday to murdering 10 women and trying to kill one more person over the course of two decades.

Very, very small doses of arsenic. No, wait-- not arsenic. Arsenio.

Farmgirl · « **Reply #338 on:** August 25, 2010, 12:08:00 PM »

Quote from: Jonathon on August 16, 2010, 05:33:45 PM

Yeah, you're right—it's not really a crash blossom. It's more than just a misplaced modifier, though. "Freed bear cub's head from plastic jar" would be not only simpler and far less clunky, but also more accurate. Was it really the jar that needed freeing?

Is it really a jar if it is plastic? I don't think I've ever called anything plastic a "jar". To me, a jar must be glass to be a jar.

Jonathon · « **Reply #339 on:** August 25, 2010, 12:17:13 PM »

Hmm. Merriam-Webster does say that a jar is "made typically of earthenware or glass", but I don't personally have a problem with "plastic jar". What else would you call it?

Farmgirl · « **Reply #340 on:** August 25, 2010, 01:37:18 PM »

a jug. (?)

or - depends on shape. I usually say "plastic container" (or in this specific case, I would most likely say "Peanut Butter container")

pooka · « **Reply #341 on:** August 25, 2010, 05:17:33 PM »

So what do you call the thing you screw onto it? What if it contains mayonnaise or nutella? They tend to be the precise shape of the glass forerunner.

P.S. But I guess it's a lot like the bag/sack distinction. Has that been muddied for anyone by the new microfiber, reusable things?

rivka · « **Reply #342 on:** August 25, 2010, 08:32:55 PM »

I have many jars of peanut butter. They are all plastic containers.

pooka · « **Reply #343 on:** September 10, 2010, 10:47:32 AM »

I was just skimming the wikipedia front page and it talked about some princess being a suicide victim. I thought that was weird.

Scott R · « **Reply #344 on:** September 13, 2010, 05:47:46 AM »

My latest story effort is about a monster who hunts down princesses with fantastic destinies; his most recent target is a girl who keeps trying to commit suicide.

pooka · « **Reply #345 on:** September 13, 2010, 07:21:40 PM »

My sister the psychiatrist tells me suicide victim is a common usage, though she thought suspected perp was funny. She said suicide is considered an epidemic, so people who succumb are victims.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #346 on:** September 13, 2010, 07:26:17 PM »

Personally, I don't like it, because I think it implies a lack of control that is dangerous to convey to people in vulnerable circumstances.

Nighthawk · « **Reply #347 on:** September 13, 2010, 07:32:42 PM »

"Suicide victim" returns tens of thousands of results on Google, so as awkward as it my sound when you reason it out it sure sounds common.

One definition of victim is shown as "a person who suffers from a destructive or injurious action or agency", so it is technically correct in that regard.

But, yeah, I don't like it either.

Jonathon · « **Reply #348 on:** September 17, 2010, 05:52:55 PM »

Seriously, New York Times? "Millenniums"?

The Genuine · « **Reply #349 on:** September 17, 2010, 06:26:27 PM »

Forums?