Banned words and phrases

Romenesko posted something the other day about the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ME telling his reporters to stop using the word "iconic" in copy, because it has become cliche.

That prompted the Washington Post's Outlook section editor to send in his list of words and phrases to avoid, most of which gave me a great chuckle:

http://jimromenesko.com/2013/03/20/washington-posts-outlook-bans-these-words-and-phrases/

My favorites:

 

That's a banned list on steroids.

 

And the BLOG!osphere gnashes its teeth and writhes uncontrollably at the constraints of traditional WaPo-style media.



I can't believe anyone today would use "Rise of the 24-hour news cycle."

 

This list could be a game-changer.

 

Sideboob.
Boob window.
Underboob

 

SF_Express went to war against "respectively" so often that I've picked that one up. Basic parallelism almost always conveys the point.

 

I had a boss in the early 1980s who had a long list of banned cliches, mostly sports ones. This served a purpose in that it got me thinking a bit more -- I'd spent my first few years in the biz writing and then editing at top speed all the time, so I had some skills, just not every skill. This exercise was good for what it was, but it's usually been expendable in lean times. My advice to young copy editors is to make factual accuracy, fairness and clarity much bigger priorities than cliche removal. By accuracy I mean a systematic approach, not just checking haphazardly when stuff doesn't look right.

 

I think the Washington Post list is pretty good.

 

"Hard-earned" is one I can't stand.

"Butler had a hard-earned win over Bucknell in the first round."

Because Michigan State didn't try hard to win their game.

 

Great one there.

 

A good list from The Post:

Add:

-- "breaks down" as in explains.
-- "hopes to." Yes, well, all the teams hope to win.
-- "tough" as a euphemism for bad. "tough call" or "tough shot."
-- "going forward." Already conveyed by tense.
-- "new." Of course the person named to the job is the "new coach." No one would announce an old coach.
-- "hard by." Feature writers can't say something is by Jamaica Pond. It has to be "hard by Jamaica Pond." (Was saddened to see Charlie Pierce fall for this one the other day.)

 

And "without incident." "The arrest was without incident." Well, other than the arrest, yes.