1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

23rd Annual SF_Express "Stamp Out Respective/Respectively" Campaign

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by SF_Express, Sep 30, 2011.

  1. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    This doesn't have to be a long ongoing thread, but I bring this up every now and then because I'm on crusade.

    Following paragraph was in a decent story in my local paper today:

    "The young men are named after their respective fathers, both of whom died within the past month."

    I don't blame the writer, because this is SOP in this paper. Might be one editor who believes in it and has preached it down the line. Maybe it's a lone copy editor.

    There is zero (no wiggle room) reason for "respective" to be in that paragraph, placed very high in the story.

    "The young men are named after their fathers, both of whom died in the past month."

    "Respective" is a pace- and writing-killing word, and if it were up to me, it would be out of the dictionary.

    I'm unlikely to have that power, but I'd ban it from newspaper and website writing except for such narrow exceptions that I can't even think of any examples right now.

    Carry on.
     
  2. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    I respectively agree.
     
  3. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    Damn you!
     
  4. Johnny Dangerously

    Johnny Dangerously Well-Known Member

    I had that epiphany not long ago -- and then the had-it-drummed-inro-me habit came back, and I let it go through in copy. Thank you for bringing me back to my liberated self.
     
  5. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    One editor at a time, if that's what it takes.
     
  6. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    I dunno, S_F. Unless the writer clearly pointed it out, how can I be sure that the kids' weren't named after each other's fathers?
     
  7. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    I thought about that, but feel the gains made by eradicating it will far outweigh any possible downside.
     
  8. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    You are correct, of course. Just scraping for loopholes.
     
  9. Editude

    Editude Active Member

    Any connection to the oft-misued hopeful/hopefully?
     
  10. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    Hopefully.
     
  11. 21

    21 Well-Known Member

    After this campaign, can we work on stamping out 'irregardless'?
     
  12. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    Hopefully, and the nonexistent irregardless, are both problems, but I'm pretty much a one issue campaigner right now.

    I read a story last year, and it was really good. And the lead referenced something about "driving down the road to his respective house" or something, and it killed the mood. It literally killed a good story. It's that critical.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page