Unnecessary Journalism Phrases

How about “lifeless body” when describing a dead person? Here’s a good (bad)...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:25:52 -0400

How about “lifeless body” when describing a dead person? Here’s a good (bad) example: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Richard-Descoings-Dead-Hotel-Room-Michaelangelo-Hotel-146027885.html

bobbymacReports: A growing number of stories with a growing number

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 12:23:59 -0400

bobbymacReports: A growing number of stories with a growing number:

bobbymacreports:

Seattle, Washington Divorce Firm Seattle Divorce Services Selects …
‎
Seattle Post Intelligencer - 1 hour ago

People increasingly are going to the internet to find and compare services, and a growing number of legal firms are turning to the web to meet potential …

…

Alliterative Journalism Phrases

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:59:47 -0500

imwithkanye:

The poetic device seems to be the only way to describe the current pool of 2012 Republican presidential candidates. (File under unnecessary journalism phrases.) Here are four examples from the past month:

Santorum Surge

Rip Romney

Neutering Newt

Bye Bye Bachmann

The Santorum Surge might not be the best phrase to use when considering the first entry on Google when one searches for “Santorum.”

Apologies on the lack of posts

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 13:53:20 -0500

Life has been quite eventful, which means focusing on finding and researching some unnecessary journalism phrases has taken a back seat. As always, feel free to send in submissions.

In the meantime, I read this paragraph in Henry Hitchings’s “The Language Wars: A History of Proper English” (if you follow my other Tumblr, you’ll notice I reference this book a lot) that I thought was particularly relevant to this blog (and while it’s not journalism-specific, you’ll see there are several expressions he mentions that pop up in stories all the time):

Which verbal tics especially annoy you? Rhetorical questions, perhaps? Among people I know, the list of irritants includes (brace yourself for a long sentence) stock phrases and nuggets - ‘at the end of the day’, ‘I think you’ll find’, ‘in the final analysis’, ‘with all due respect’ (the noun respect is in some, mostly political contexts an irritant in its own right), ‘new and improved’, ‘tried and tested’, ‘at this moment in time’, ‘bear with me’, ‘it is what it is’, ‘I’m good to go’, ‘almost exactly’, ‘sum total’, ‘lifestyle choices’, ‘quality time’, ‘decisive factors’, ‘the lowest common denominator’ (with the implication that this is a small number, though often it isn’t - the lowest common denominator of 1/3 and 3/4 is 12), ‘no problem’, ‘in fairness’, ‘to be honest’, ‘free gift’, ‘workable solution’, ‘positive feedback’, ‘it is incumbent upon me’, ’ you don’t want to go there’, ‘no offence’, ‘but…’, ‘can I ask you a question?’, ‘for your convenience’, ‘do you know what I mean?’, ‘what’s not to like?’ - and a number of individual words that have become wearisomely common - synergy, sustainable, paradigm, ongoing, facilitate, empower, customer-facing, closure, process in the contexts to do with emotions and psychology (‘the grieving process’), and perhaps also context to boot, along with creativity, leverage, proactive, pathfinder, challenge, solution, 24/7, co-worker, user-friendly, the emptying situation (compare ‘There is crime’ and ‘There is a crime situation’) and the pretentious historic (‘This is an historic moment for Basildon’). These words and phrases are disliked because they seem devoid of meaning; they have been discoloured through overuse or through too much unthinking use, and have become filters, formulae, dumb scraps barnacling the truth. But we can’t eradicate them. The reason? It’s not rocket science. And yes, dear reader, I added that one just to pique you.

While not necessarily an unnecessary journalism phrase, friend...

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:41:55 -0500

While not necessarily an unnecessary journalism phrase, friend of the blog, MSNBC reporter Alex Johnson, posted this tweet of Independent on Sunday reporter John Rentoul’s “Do as I say, not as I do” philosophy of using “So” to begin a sentence.

In this clip, Rentoul admonishes people who use “so:”

Beginning a sentence with the word “so” has become a regular occurrence in everyday conversation, and it has not been received entirely positively.

John Rentoul of the Independent on Sunday, author of The Banned List: A Manifesto Against Jargon and Cliche, explains why he is not so impressed.

But as Alex points out, Rentoul (not ironically?) uses this technique in this piece about his “Banned List: The War on Words:”

“So when Ed Miliband said, in what was inevitably described as a “keynote” speech this summer, “In the future the Labour offer to aspirational voters must be that we will address the new inequality by hard- wiring fairness into the economy,” I knew he didn’t really know what he meant.”

“So you know what to do.”

50. Old Man Winter - 11/7/11

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:29:13 -0500

With people still adjusting to cooler temperatures and shorter days, as Ned Stark would say, “winter’s coming.” The arrival of warm woolen mittens and songs of holiday cheer brings an often used phrase of anthropomorphic proportions to our writing about the season. Surely, there are better ways to say, “Don’t forget your booties ‘cause it’s coooold out there today.”

—-

“Perhaps at Zuccotti Park Old Man Winter will facilitate this disbanding and although it would be an unfortunate turn of events for the homeless, it would save the Owies the embarrassment of admitting their impotence.”

The Record Searchlight: Alana Burke: Occupy Wall Street should cancel the freakshow

Engadget: Columbia’s line of electric Omni-Heat jackets, gloves and boots on sale, just in time for Old Man Winter

“Before the mercury takes a nosedive and Old Man Winter bullies his way into the backyard and garden, you need to get your plastic rain barrel ready for the long, cold months ahead.”

Ottawa Citizen: Winterizing your rain barrel

“The snow is on hold for now, but Old Man Winter will settle into the valleys of western Montana this weekend nonetheless.”?

Missoulian: Snow delayed, but cold to continue in western Montana

“Topekans went Wednesday from seeing abnormally warm early-morning conditions for November to finding themselves firmly in the grip of Old Man Winter.”

Topeka Capital-Journal: State gets first taste of winter

Push The Envelope Submitted by unretrecissement and her...

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:42:35 -0400

Push The Envelope

Submitted by unretrecissement and her colleague Daisy Rosario, via Conan O’Brien:

News stations everywhere put their own unique spin on Conan’s same-sex wedding news.

49. A.M. in the Morning/P.M. in the Afternoon/Evening, at Night - 11/3/11

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:48:56 -0400

This one’s pedantic, inspired by a conversation I was having with my wife. She mentioned about doing something at 6 p.m. at night, or along those lines, and it caught me as redundant. I did a search for the above phrases and sure enough, they were in copy. We are taught early in life about the difference between a.m. and p.m - the former is in the morning, prior to noon (12:00 p.m.); the latter is in the afternoon (after 12 p.m.). We know, for example, if I’m catching the bus at 7 a.m., it is the morning. There’s no need to write, “He caught the bus at 7 a.m in the morning.”

—-

“But late-night hosts are familiar ground for the WHCA, with four out of the last five hosts being guys who tell jokes on TV after 11 p.m. at night.”

The Atlantic Wire: Jimmy Kimmel Will Host the White House Correspondents’s Dinner

“It appears to have calmed down and most protesters have retired for the night (it’s approaching 4.30 am in the morning in Oakland) so we’re going to wrap up the blog now.”

The Guardian: Occupy Oakland General Strike - 11/3

“Robinson said it was between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. in the morning when the first bus driver on the route began having trouble with a jammed fare box and stopped to try to fix it.”

Vancouver Sun: North Van commuter claims bus driver stormed off without reason

“The good news came around 4 p.m. in the afternoon of November 1st. Curran, already the mother of seven-year-old Lilly-Ella and five-year-old Lexie, brought forth of a bouncy baby weighting seven lbs 15 oz.”

Bleacher Report: Steven Gerrard and Alex Curran Name Third Baby Girl Lourdes

“She also slams academy management for not having staff on duty after 6.30pm at night to take care of student complaints.”

Courier Mail: Sex pests harass most girl recruits

48. Emergency Situation - 11/2/11

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:33:06 -0400

We can discard “situation” in this phrase, as emergency means “a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action.”

——

“Wiener was concerned that the resolution – which is ultimately non-binding – would “hamstring” police in an emergency situation.”

San Francisco Examiner: Supervisors vote to support Occupy SF camp at Justin Herman Plaza

“The on-scene security training class provides hams with an understanding of security functions that include crowd control, basic radio operations and methods used to obtain a safe, secure environment utilizing non-law enforcement personnel during an emergency situation.”

Aledo Times Record: Mercer County ham radio operators needed to assist in emergencies

“On many occasions, emergency medical services personnel arrive at an emergency situation where people are unable to speak for themselves due to an injury or medical condition.”

The Daily Press: Local EMS involved in pilot project

“Additional money may be available if you have an emergency situation and are in jeopardy of losing your heat. Emergency situations include: broken heating equipment or leaking lines that must be fixed or replaced; lack of fuel; termination of utility service; danger of being without fuel or of having utility service terminated.”

Pocono Record: News from Monroe County Area Agency on Aging

47. Roll(ed)(ing) in his/her grave - 10/31/11

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:51:38 -0400

To celebrate this most ghoulish of days, here’s a phrase that pops up when reporters believe a famous person - a dead, famous person - has been wronged by the living. First, dead people don’t roll over. Second, dead people don’t care about the living. And while this is a rhetorical flourish of a phrase, maybe we don’t need to use it for every kind of misdeed appropriated from the dead originator to the living thief.

Happy Halloween!

——

“Joe Robbie rolled over in his grave as Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross inappropriately mingled on the sideline with the college coach of the opposing quarterback who was in the process of leading a double-digit comeback.”

FOX Sports: Tebow performs when it matters most

““The Gipper” may have rolled over in his grave when De León bastardized his famous quote, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” to call the two-thirds taxpayer protection a “Berlin Wall” keeping California from returning to prosperity.”

LA Times: Raising taxes: Why California needs its two-thirds rule

“Elizabeth Taylor rolled over in her grave.”

Bleacher Report: Kim Kardashian Divorce: 5 Reasons Her Sham Marriage Failed

“Of course, he’d be rolling over in his grave to know that a Chiefs’ fan was using the saying against his Raiders.”

Kansas City Star: Chiefs vs. Raiders: On the brink.

Pull(ing) a Gwyneth

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:07:43 -0400

Submitted by imwithkanye. (Over the years, actress Gwyneth Paltrow has become a polarizing figure in the entertainment world. Doing a Google search of “pull a Gwyneth” it was not only shocking to see how many entries popped up, but also the varying definitions of the phrase. It could mean ‘switching careers, most notably from film to music’ or it could mean ‘to become successful in your craft and then disappear’ or it can even signify one’s deliberations on naming their child. While this may not be the typical unnecessary journalism phrase, based on the evidence below, it’s a trend that’s been happening for years.)

——

“If Joseph Gordon-Levitt ever wanted to pull a Gwyneth Paltrow and explore his musical side through his film work, consider the groundwork laid.”

LA Times: Joseph Gordon-Levitt channels Axl Rose for Jimmy Fallon

“The first lady’s pulling a Gwyneth Paltrow and publishing a cookbook.”

Yahoo.com Michelle Obama: celebrity chef? First lady’s cookbook to share homegrown recipe

“Given my high-strung nature and tendency to jump on bandwagons, I think one of these per year is enough for me, unless I want to pull a Gwyneth and go macrobiotic and maybe live in a yurt in Alaska and make my own cheese, which actually doesn’t sound so bad, but I digress…)”

Super Cool Food Blog: New Amsterdam Market

Pajiba.com: 5 Lead Actors that Should Pull a Gwyneth

“But don’t pull a Gwyneth and get judgmental about her lifestyle choices: Paltrow is not a boozer, she was method acting.”

Stardish: Gwyneth Paltrow got drunk on Bloody Marys for her Country Strong role.

”You’re pulling a Gwyneth Paltrow, hurrying to line up new work post-pregnancy”

Philadelphia Weekly: Horoscope The Cosmic Butt Kick

46. As a Matter of Fact - 10/25/11

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:31:34 -0400

This phrase is used to explain to the reader that the next part of the statement is true. Which, as it turns out, is not needed, since you are a journalist and what you’re writing is, ~~as a matter of fact~~, based on facts…

——

“As a matter of fact, Death Cab’s Chris Walla produced Arrows, The Lonely Forest’s most recent full-length, and it’s easily the best album of the band’s short career. “

Dallas Observer: The Lonely Forest’s Tony Ruland On Meeting Lady Gaga, Sounding Too Much Like Death Cab

“As a matter of fact, I thought perhaps they were becoming extinct because they had become so scarce in recent years.”

Crossville Chronicle: Signs point to a white Christmas and cold temps

“As a matter of fact, we humans have several important characteristics that are not considered in the model. “

Science and Religion Today: Are We Misguided in Trying to Stop the Aging Process?

“As a matter of fact, he looked like one of those big, fast, hulking linebackers in crimson.”

Rocky Top Talk: Tennessee vs. Alabama: Final Player Report

“First, it does not show how Katie and Kristi’s family home burned down and as a matter of fact the film does not have any of the footage seen and promoted in the trailers.”

Neon Tommy: REVIEW: “Paranormal Activity 3” Takes You Back To The Start

“

A quantum leap

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:11:00 -0400

This was submitted by Ian, a physicist:

——

Not only does the phrase “a quantum leap” offend me as a physicist (a quantum is a small discrete amount), but it is generally unnecessary baggage.

Example 1: “a quantum leap” can be dropped with no loss of clarity.

“Buoyed with the Supreme Court decision (and armed with a raft of scientific evidence), proponents of Insite and related harm reduction measures are poised to take the debate several steps further, and a quantum leap beyond the comfort zone of the current federal government, and perhaps even some health care advocates.”

http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/10/07/are-we-ready-to-subsidize-heroin/

Example 2: “Transition” works better here.

With the sluggish movement away from Windows XP, is it really realistic to believe that business will make the quantum leap to completely new computing models accompanied by new IT management models with the Windows 8 or even the “Windows 9” wave on the horizon?

http://www.zdnet.com/news/reality-check-why-desktop-forecasts-need-reevaluation/6311089

45. Gave Birth to a Baby (Girl or Boy)

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:10:19 -0400

Has any human being ever given birth to a toddler? Adolescent? Pre-pubescent? Adult? Animal? No. We can get rid of the ‘baby’ in this phrase, as giving birth means having a baby human!

——

“On Wednesday, the French president’s wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy gave birth to a baby girl.”

Washington Post: Moammar Gaddafi’s death: Could it boost Nicolas Sarkozy in the polls?

“With Jimmy Howard and his wife Rachel celebrating the birth of a baby boy Sunday, the Wings called up Joey MacDonald on Monday morning.”

Detroit News: Red Wings promote goalie Joey MacDonald; he’s available Tuesday

“She had hidden her pregnancy from her family and gave birth to a baby boy in the family’s bathroom.”

LA Times: Mother gets 5 years for drowning newborn in toilet

“After weeks of feverish rumour and speculation, French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy gave birth to a baby girl on Wednesday night, her second child and husband President Nicolas Sarkozy’s fourth.” (note, though, the use of the phrase in the headline…Also, there were TONS of stories from other major publications about Bruni’s birth that used this phrase, I just grabbed the first one.)

LA Times: It’s a girl for French president and wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

44. The Single Most (adjective) 10/20/11

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:15:55 -0400

“Single” does not need to appear before “most,” or any superlative (the single largest, the single greatest, etc). You can eliminate it from the sentence and it will still express how magnificent, elegant or momentous something (or someone) may be.

—-

“But as Mr Bing, who is himself black (though he grew up in Washington, DC, rather than Detroit) puts it, the single most important thing is to get the economy moving again, so that tax revenues can recover and many other things become possible.”

The Economist: The Parable of Detroit; so cheap there’s hope

“It can lead to the game-changing award of a penalty kick, probably the single most momentous refereeing decision in any sport.”

The Economist: Cheating in Sport; Onedownmanship

“There are no polls on this (yet), but Mike Konczal of the Roosevelt Institute notes that debt seems to be the single most prominent theme of the signs used by protesters to convey what they’re angry about—particularly online, where the movement has taken up a lively presence.”

US News and World Report: Why the Wall Street Protests Are Going Mainstream

“In fact, we recently published an entire presentation on our 10 best “forever” stocks,and it has become the single most popular piece of research in our company’s decade-long history.”

TheStreet.com: 12 Companies That Carry the Most Debt Risk

“Avatar has been downloaded 21 million times since its release in 2009, making it the movie with the single most illegal downloads, according to a recent report from TorrentFreak, a blog that has tracked downloads each week on the leading downloading site BitTorrent since 2006. “

TheStreet.com: The Most Pirated Movies on the Internet

43. First and Foremost - 10/18/11

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:14:22 -0400

“First and foremost” falls into an interesting redundant category. “First” comes before everything else and “foremost” is most prominent in rank - so while “foremost” can also mean “first”, “first” doesn’t necessarily mean “foremost.” (Kinda like “a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square.”) If you’re using “first and foremost” to refer to first in time or space AND in order of importance, then it is acceptable. However (of course there’s a ‘however’) most uses of the phrase ‘first and foremost’ do not reflect the nuanced difference between the two words, but rely on the ordinal definition. If you’re writing ‘first and foremost’ and you’re discussing order, ‘first’ suffices, but you can also use ‘primarily,’ ‘most importantly,’ ‘chiefly,’ ‘largely,’ etc if you’re focused on “foremost.”

——

“With Matthew, first and foremost, you are listening to a piece of music.”

New York Times: Raising an Album, From Pigpen to Studio

“All that said, Mr. Daisey’s new monologue is first and foremost a work of theatrical art, just as Mr. Daisey himself, though he is not an actor in the ordinary sense of the word, is an awesomely gifted stage performer.”

Wall Street Journal: The Technogeek’s Lament

“He was also insistent that the eurozone is a problem first and foremost for its members to solve.”

Financial Times: Osborne toughs out eurozone criticism

“First and foremost, dividend investors like a large forward yield.”

The Motley Fool: Aqua America: Dividend Dynamo, or the Next Blowup?

“The company sees itself as a technology-specialist first and foremost, concentrating on details which make properties healthier and more sustainable. “

The Guardian: Cleantech 100 case study: Project Frog

42. Brief Summary - 10/17/11

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:41:24 -0400

Summaries distill larger amounts of information into concise statements; there’s no need to have ‘brief’ in front of ‘summary,’ as we know summaries are designed to be brief.

——

“That’s a brief summary of the news from the Republican Party this week. “

Washington Post: The GOP ties itself up in knots

“Here is a very brief summary of some of the most outrageously entitled behavior of these erstwhile champions of capitalism.”

Forbes: Wall Street Has Been Entitled, NOT Occupy Wall Street

“ But we’d love to see future videos of similar length and production value that give a brief summary of the arguments behind each of the movement’s demands.”

TheStreet.com: What Occupy Wall Street Wants, in 30 Seconds

“It is simply a brief summary of every top 50 team’s bowl prospects.”

Bleacher Report: College Football: Best and Worst Case Bowl Scenarios for the Top 50 Teams

41. Closed Fist - 10/13/11

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:06:58 -0400

Fists are always closed. This phrase is used, typically, when describing someone who punches another (or, in some cases, inanimate objects). Since “punch” means to “strike with a fist,” most of the time, we don’t need to even have this phrase. See the examples below:

——

“As security was taking her away from the club’s disc jockey booth and outside the club, she turned toward a uniformed police officer and punched him in the chest with a closed fist, according to police.”

Orlando Sentinel: Woman punches cop at Roxy nightclub

“The police citation said Richardson then tried to rip the victim’s pants off before punching her with a closed fist to the face and head.”

WLKY: Police Arrest Suspect In Attempted Rape

“But that pumping, closed fist, piston-arm gyration Gibson turned into a slice of video glory as he rounded first base following his hallmark home run in the 1988 World Series — that requires choreography.” (here, we could substitute “punching” for “closed-fist” to achieve the same imagery and add some alliteration.)

Detroit News: Wounded Tigers could show fight

40. Protest Against - 10/12/11

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:27:34 -0400

If one protests, they are, by definition, against something. There’s no need to say “protest against,” as it is redundant. Additionally, one doesn’t “protest for” something; one “supports.” In the following examples, we can eliminate “against” to save words and not change the sentence.

——

“The purpose of the meeting was to “strongly” protest against the US allegations, the state television website reported.”

BBC News: US Treasury imposes sanctions on Iran’s Mahan Air

“Dressed in a black jacket and a brown tunic, he gave out a five-minute statement in which he explained that he wanted to carry out the attack to protest against US and Israeli policy towards Muslims.”

The Guardian: Al-Qaida ‘underwear bomber’ stuns Detroit court by changing plea to guilty

“Greek tax inspectors said they would go on strike next week to protest against planned wage and pension cuts, threatening more disruption to revenue collection efforts that are already falling behind target. “

Reuters: Italian turmoil haunts euro zone

“The idea of it, even if it was not fully executed, was to protest against one specific thing (tax cuts for New York’s rich). “

Village Voice: Billionaire’s March Occupies the Upper East Side

39. Could Possibly - 10/11/11

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:27:00 -0400

Could:

(Verb:) The past tense of ‘can;’ Used to indicate possibility

Using “could” before “possibly” is another pleonasm that has pervaded our daily conversations and has crept into our reporting. We don’t need to have that extra “possibly.” For example, taking out “possibly” in the following sentences would let the reporter have an additional precious word in the copy. (also: see “Might Possibly”)

—-

“What could possibly motivate the mom-to-be to embellish her growing belly?”

Washington Post: The Beyonce baby bump conspiracy continues

“After all, as one of thousands of disenfranchised Sonics fans, what could possibly make this winter more bearable than the utter nullification of the NBA?”

Seattle Times: Having company during NBA lockout is nice for Sonic-less Seattle

“The dumbest thing that Iran could possibly do, then, would be stop the collapse, to find some way to bring the U.S. and Saudi Arabia back together. “

The Atlantic: Would Iran Really Want to Blow Up the Saudi Ambassador to the U.S.?

“Given this, we believe that the relatively low quality microphones in the iPad and iPod touch again may not give the best results, and could possibly prevent these devices from using Siri in the near future.”

WIRED: Siri Is iPhone 4S-Only Today, But Where Will It Be Tomorrow?

“What could possibly go wrong?”

WSJ: Is It a Euro Bazooka Or a Damp Squib?

“When you are taking a walk in midtown Manhattan after work one Friday, you could possibly pull out your phone, check the Yahoo app, and find out which bars have a happy hour within 5 blocks.”

Business Insider: What Yahoo, The Media Company, Would Look Like

“(This is almost the earliest that the Democrats could possibly move for recall; the state’s rules require a politician to hold office for at least a year, and Mr. Walker was sworn in at the start of January.)”

NYT: Wisconsin Democrats Start Drive to Recall Governor