"Look over there - there's a fracas."
That there, gentlemen, is a fine sentence.

refulgent

/ok no one says that word

Antidisestablishmentarianism

cacophony
plethora

Gulper Eel: "Cagers" for basketball players.

Gridiron

Slaying/slain. (My first news director told me never to use it unless there's a dragon in the story.)

Amen to cagers and gridiron. I hate reading small-town newspaper sports stories; they always use cagers when talking about high school basketball. Seriously, nobody has used cagers since the 1930s!

colon_pow: plethora

Would you say I have a plethora of pinatas?
Jefe: A what?
El Guapo: A *plethora*.
Jefe: Oh yes, you have a plethora.
El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?
Jefe: Why, El Guapo?
El Guapo: Well, you told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has *no idea* what it means to have a plethora.

Exacerbate

\used that in an all staff e-mail one time
\\funny and sad at the same time, the confusion it caused

nubianrdly


//ducks and runs

filter pwnd

albo: that's a very british list. i'd add

solons - lawmakers
keglers - bowlers
hit - criticize

I found it to be rather shallow and parts were very forced.

The part with the article about using the word fury:

As in: "Six post office branches will be closed in Waltham Forest under plans announced this week, to the fury of customers and staff." - This is London, February 19.
As it would never be said in real life: "The corner shop has sold out of Mars bars. I react with fury."


While the initial example given is a bit on point, the counter of "As it would never be said in real life:" is garbage.

Would you then say any emotion is never described in real life?

As in: I react with happy.

Who the hell announces that they react with a feeling?

I could say it made me furious that the store once again had no mars bars and that would be perfectly acceptable.

Pretty sad this journalist can't even do something as simple as a list "article".

Yeah, I'm late to the party, but...

"At this hour" and "On the ground"

Hey, Bob, howzit goin' at this hour? Are you on the ground?

Oh, and "prep", as in "prep cagers"...like every secondary school is Choate, or something.

gSe7eN: TypoFlyspray: And fracas. Definition of Fracas?

Can you describe the Fracas, sir?

You are familiar with the traditions of television animation as practiced by the semi-competent staff of Hanna-Barbera, wherein two or more participants in a fracas will close on each other, generate a concealing cloud of dust even in a completely dust free environment (under water, for example), sprout multiple addtional limbs and attempt to do violence to one another until one of the contestants steps out of the cloud with the object of contention and absconds while the others attempt to reabsorb the superflous limbs before the dust settles?

This is as close to realism as Hanna-Barbera ever came and more or less accurately depicts a fracas.

I use a lot of those words, actually. "Fracas" is a fave.

Ah, I remember when people were proud of their vocabularies...

What a swingeing pile of offal.

stpauler: TOT: child aged anywhere between six months and three years.
As in: "Tot's autopsy photos stir courtroom emotions" - the Philadelphia Star, January 25.
As it is never said in real life: "What a nice tot you have"; "How old is your tot now?"

Man, I could get really juvenile tottish with that last sentence...

FTFY

Embattled.

I have a particular distaste for "milieu," particularly when seeing it used in a movie review. For gods' sakes! It's an animated film about nutty animals on a romp with classic rock in the background! Don't use the word "milieu" in your description!

The whole premise of this article is wrong.

Since when is written language constrained to use only words common in spoken English? Reporters usually write in complete, grammatical sentences, something almost never done in spoken language. Should they stop? And since when are publications not supposed to have a house tone or style?

In truth, newspapers have different needs when it comes to word use than common speech. A lot of the author's complaints are about headline words, which are chosen with an emphasis on limiting word length. In other cases, the author complains about synonyms used to avoid repeating the same word over and over in an article. This is especially true in sports journalism. Maybe the guy doesn't like the term "stopper," but it's better than having the word "defender" come up 5 times in two sentences.

Don't get me wrong, there certainly are some journalism cliches out there, but the problem isn't that they're not being used in common speech, it's that they're being relied on too often in papers.

SMUBBLE: to import or export (parrots) secretly on a bicycle into Belarus, in violation of the law, esp. without payment of legal duty.
As in: "Belarus border guards foil man who tried to smubble 277 parrots with his bicycle."
As it would never be said in real life: "I have been smubbling for years and never got caught."

Well.. let's see here. I actually use slammed, though to mean overwhelmed rather than criticized. Source definitely gets used. Someone makes an incredulous claim, they get asked what's the source on that?

And fracas.. hell that's just fun to say. Usually beats out ruckus and kufuffle. Sorry I'm late, there was a bit of a fracas at the bank. Some guy yelling about his mortgage. Held everyone up.

How about Mesopotamia, which the NYT uses in reference to Iraq in order to not mention Iraq for some stupid reason. The only time you'll hear that word used is in an ancient history class. Idiots.

If you aren't going to refer to the football position "stopper" as the "stopper", what the heck are you going to refer to it as? To my knowledge, there is no other name for that position.

Gulper Eel: Slaying/slain. (My first news director told me never to use it unless there's a dragon in the story.)

That's silly. Slain carries with the the information that another caused his death, as opposed to it being an accident, or even just a heart attack.

Man Dies In Church
Man Killed In Church
Man Slain In Church

What word did your director prefer to use?

My two favorite:

1) "Calls to Mr. Smith's office were not immediately returned." Really. Immediately? Because when I leave a voicemail, I expect you to return my call "immediately", if not sooner....

2) "It was not immediately clear [to this idiot report] if the [Global Warming, Drop in Stock Market, President's delay in speaking by 2 minutes] was due to [something I will totally make up now].

Nobody could actually use these phrases in a conversation.

"Eatery" for "restaurant."

That was a perfectly cromulant article.

TypoFlyspray: gSe7eN: TypoFlyspray: And fracas. Definition of Fracas?

Can you describe the Fracas, sir?

You are familiar with the traditions of television animation as practiced by the semi-competent staff of Hanna-Barbera, wherein two or more participants in a fracas will close on each other, generate a concealing cloud of dust even in a completely dust free environment (under water, for example), sprout multiple addtional limbs and attempt to do violence to one another until one of the contestants steps out of the cloud with the object of contention and absconds while the others attempt to reabsorb the superflous limbs before the dust settles?

This is as close to realism as Hanna-Barbera ever came and more or less accurately depicts a fracas.

Best definition ever!

ACRID

Every fire which ends up having a reporter talk about the experience of having been there while it was ongoing is described as acrid. Alright, maybe not every one, but way too many.

Gravitas.
Wonk.

A guide to words used regularly in journalism that no one ever says in real life

I must be "no one", 'cos I use plenty of those words and have heard them used in real life.

/Can't speak for Second Life, I don't go there.

Strongman
as in Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega
Of all the idioms possible, I never knew why this saying gained such widespread use. Was it required by the propaganda ministry?

How about "frosh". I never really understood how "freshmen" could morph into frosh.

I used 'plethora' in conversation the other day. Then I started thinking about pinatas.

IXI Jim IXI

"I SLAMMED a TOT in the BUNGLE the other day. Halfway through, he grabbed my SWINGEING BOFFINS, and now, I'm CAGED."

bwahaha!

Least favorite word ever: chillax. Use it around me & discover the meaning of the word slapow.

Cronies -- the opposing political party leader always has 'cronies' working for them.

I add "brandish" to the list.

wow, a vocabulary brouhaha!

baka-san: Rumpus
Fracas
A fracas is a rumpus that gets out of hand

Would you rather get shot in the fracas, or stabbed in the melee?

/altercation
//donnybrook
///slugfest

Oh, and.

Spokesperson.

Nobody's actual job title is spokesperson. I don't care if you work in a bicycle shop.

Antiquing?

**BOOM**

I read an article about a cricket game and there was one long paragraph that completely lost me. I consider myself to be rather intelligent but I didn't understand 3/4 of the words.

Actually, there are professional spokespersons. That's ALL they do. They are the ones reading the bullshiat and spin the PR dept. gives them. They are attractive, clean-cut, and look trustworthy.

Mostnooclear facilities (like the one in Oak Ridge TN) have a spokesperson on staff, just in case something goes Boom.

/the more you know

Methinks the author has a touch of the 'tarding:

LAMBAST: criticise.
As in: "Is Ferguson right to lambast football agents or are they simply doing their job? - BBC Online, February 22.
As it would never be said in real life: "I lambast you for that terrible decision."

You don't say you lambast someone. Lambasting describes the action. Same with "slammed".


/moran

McSly: A guide to alleged words used regularly in journalism that no one ever says in real life

Corrected that for you.

Actually, it should read...
A guide to words allegedly used regularly in journalism that no one ever says in real life.

In your version, it seems like there is some debate that these are words.

Although, I think it would be pretty easy for someone to prove these words are used regularly in print. Maybe the allegedly should be applied to the idea that no one ever says them, which would be more difficult to prove.

In that case...
A guide to words used regularly in journalism that no one allegedly says in real life.

And I actually get to say this: I am a journalist, so I'm getting a kick out of all these media-bashing replies.

/Actually, these have been quite tame

meepozoid: Actually, there are professional spokespersons. That's ALL they do. They are the ones reading the bullshiat and spin the PR dept. gives them. They are attractive, clean-cut, and look trustworthy.

Mostnooclear facilities (like the one in Oak Ridge TN) have a spokesperson on staff, just in case something goes Boom.

/the more you know

In my office, they're called "Spokesholes"

Smatana: Fellows: I use most of those words quite frequently. I guess this blog is insinuating the general public across the pond has quite the limited vernacular vocabulary.

How trite ironic.

FTFY


This is the only "FTFY" that I have ever truly enjoyed.