Mon 7 Apr 2008
Extra!
Posted by anaglyph under In The News, Words
[14] Comments
You may recall that some little while ago I talked about Stupid News Speak – the way in which the news media mangles the English language for their own unfathomable ends.
Well, this recent discussion about wild weather reminded me of another curious phenomenon in the world of news linguistics – the circumstance of The Anachronistic Word.
This is when a word that would otherwise have been relegated to the Old People’s Home of language is artificially kept alive like some kind of etymological zombie to do the bidding of semi-literate journalists. For example, consider the word chiefly. Who uses chiefly except news weathermen?
The West will see some rain, chiefly on the ranges…
And, when does anything wreak havoc except in the news description of a tornado or mob of unhappy student protesters?
In the world of news, a person does not fall to their death. No way José! They plummet. Hands up who’s used the word plummet in conversation in the last decade?
But my favourite must surely be the way that about the only thing that is ever hampered in the modern world is rescue efforts.
There are many more of these. Your favourites?
“Revellers” – they only ever seem to come out on New Year’s Eve, as New Year’s Day news is full of reports of revellers and they’re not heard of again till the following new year…..
My dirty clothes get hampered.
anon: Ah yes. The inimitable New Year’s Eve Reveller. One can only thank the Spaghetti Monster that they stay sequestered for the rest of the year.
Cissy Strutt: Next time you’re chucking in some clothes, better make a quick check for rescue efforts.
‘Youths’ seem to be responsible for all kinds of mischief in newspeak world.
‘Boffins’ – you’ve got to watch those crazy scientists.
Pil: Yes, youths with a hard ‘th’. Making trouble throughout Newsland.
Alison: Er… I have to lay claim to being a big user of ‘boffins’. In fact my friend Tim recently pointed out that the #1 Image Search for ‘boffins’ on Google returns a link to The Cow. There are a lot of boffins throughout The Realm of The Cow.
Hoopla
Super delegate
Weapons of mass destruction (including the WMD abbreviation)
Casey: Experts agree that you are correct.
Atlas: Now hoopla is a word I’d really like to see back in common usage, along with werewithal and milksop.
Making a statement.
My friends and I speak, but everyone on the news makes a statement.
Mind Bullets on the Way!
Pil: Unless it’s information from a source, in which case it’s always confided.
Malach: And I thought Atlas was unfathomable.
And aint it funny how fires nevr seem to burn. They always rage.
And whats up wif callin em fires? Dint they get th ‘Steve’ memo?
Joey: And fires not only rage, they mostly rage out of control.
Humpty Dumpty abandoned his wall,
Having exhausted the ways one can fall.
Climbing a mountain and reaching its summit,
He threw himself off and proceeded to plummet.