Just had to vent about hearing several news cliches in one day on broadcasts.
No. 1: There have been several "fiery infernos in this neighborhood tonight." I guess that's in contrast to a non-fiery inferno.
No. 2: "Big, huge." in reference to Christmas sales. Which I guess is different from "small, huge."
No. 3: "A tragic murder." As opposed to the non-tragic ones. Only one worse is the "brutal murder" sticker put on by some reporters. Is there a murder that is not brutal?
And while I'm on the subject, the word tragic is often used incorrectly. Not finding a popular Christmas toy or even losing your home is not really tragic. Some things are horrible and awful, but if you walk away alive, it was probably not tragic. Nothing should be tragic unless someone loses a life.
When I hear more, I'll share again. If you are guilty of using these, in the name of all that is journalism, please stop.
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5 comments:
Jim, I fear you are fully engulfed in this topic....
I just heard a radio reporter use that yesterday in reference to a barn fire ...
Todd
I'm gonna go ahead and sort of disagree with your logic. See, especially with 'big, huge", we are talking about synonyms. With "tragic" and "brutal" murders, we are talking about adjectives to describe the murders, which is bit more subjective. A murder by injection may not be considered brutal. The murder of a rapist may not be considered tragic. An inferno, however, will most likely always be fiery.
-elin
Only you, Elin, could be smart enough to trip me up.
Your mother and I miss you and wish we could be together for Christmas.
Keep up the good work, including holding me to account.
Jim, the word "tragedy" also is commonly misused. I don't know how many news accounts referred to the Fort Hood shootings as a tragedy, which it wasn't. It was an abomination, an atrocity or a terrorist attack. The same goes for the 9/11 attacks.
The Greek dramatists developed the concept of tragedy. In its purist form, a tragedy involved one good guy (man of honor) against another, and only one survived. Can you imagine anything more tragic?
Also, kudos to Todd for the "tragic" barn fire reference. I almost threw a bottle at my TV set in 1980, when the GOP held its national convention in Detroit. On the first day, someone from Channel 4 (I still remember the name, if anyone's interested) was reporting from a deserted high-class Detroit restaurant and called the situation "tragic."
On the next news cycle, Channel 4 got wise and mentioned how the multiple free Republican shindigs were siphoning off the expected delegates' restaurant trade.
One possible use of tragedy, in relations to the Bay City Times. Big shake up there. Metro editor leaving. Old editor being hired back. Some jobs being eliminated. Crash and burn.
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