Sadly, there are too damned few copy-editors in radio and television; too few attendees at the “XYZ School of Broadcasting;” too few readers of anybody’s stylebook.
Radio and television are solitary, intimate media. You speak. I listen. You are talking to me. There’s no one else around most of the time. When you say “Good morning everyone,” I look around the shower, the car, the bathroom, wondering who might be lurking. You don’t need to say “Good morning, Johnny.” A simple “Good morning,” will do.
When you are “on the air,” every second --every syllable-- counts. It’s not like writing for print, where they can always add a few pages to the paper by selling more ads.
A minute will never be longer than 60 seconds; an hour never longer than 60 minutes. Make every second count.
Radio and television are geographically neutral media. We’re both “here” in the same room. So when you use “over there in...,” or “up in...,” or “down in...” or “out in...” or even “here in...,” it emphasizes that you and I are most-likely not in the same place after all, thus driving a wedge between us. Why do that? “There’s a fire raging on the East side of town” is better than “There’s a fire raging over there on the East side of town.”
So let’s hit the road --Traffic Reporters take heed.
“Downtown” is an area. It may be a small area or it may be a large area. Ditto the intersection of 12th Street and Main. If traffic is heavy (or even especially light), the intelligent listener can guess that your statement applies to all of downtown --not merely to the pinpoint on the map. While a collision did occur in the middle of the intersection of 12th Street and Main, traffic all around is bumper-to-bumper. No need to say, “avoid the area of 12th Street and Main” when a simple “avoid 12th Street and Main” will do. Save your breath.
On a larger scale, think for a minute about how silly (and wasteful of breath) it is to say “the Greater Chicagoland Cook County Metropolitan Area.” How about “the Greater New York City Tri-State Metropolitan Region” or even “the Gulf Coast Region”? Or “the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and suburban areas”?
“Shoulder” is the paved or unpaved area to the right of the road. It’s not “the right-hand shoulder.” It’s the “shoulder.” If it’s truly a one-way road, with no other one-way road in the opposite direction, I suppose that there can be a “right shoulder” and a “left shoulder.” But not “right-hand shoulder” or “left-hand shoulder.”
“Median” is the paved or unpaved space that is in the middle of two roadways going in opposite directions. It’s not “the left-hand median.” It’s “the median.”
Sportscasters, here's a quickie for you:
“On the clock” is O.K. to use when indicating that someone is at that very moment being paid an hourly wage, or that, as with a taxi, “the meter is running.” HOWEVER, with a deep bow to Frank Deford of S.I. and N.P.R., it has no place in sports. Why say “There’s two-and-a-half-minutes left on the clock” when a simple “There’s two-and-a-half minutes left to play”? Where else would the two-and-a-half minutes be? On the thermometer? On the fuel guage? In my wallet? Think before engaging mouth. Or better yet, LISTEN to yourself.
Meteorologists, it’s your turn.
“Weather” is something that exists all of the time. Please don’t report that we have no weather today. It may be “nice weather;” it may be “mild” or even “ideal.” But we are never without some form of weather.
“Condition” is silly most of the time, much as with “situation.” They’re weak words. What does “hurricane conditions” say that “hurricane” doesn’t say? What does “windy conditions” say that “windy” doesn’t say? No need for “we have rainy conditions in the forecast” when a simple, declarative, “I forecast rain in two hours” will do. Is “a fourth-down situation” any different than “It’s fourth down”?
“System” is another one. What is the difference between “highways” or “freeways” and “the highway system” or “the freeway system” --other that three syllables!?!
“Blizzard-like” and “hurricane-like” conditions are meaningless terms. These are weather phenomena that have certain very specific definitions: 75 mile-an-hour winds, for example. Even “categories. So if it’s a blizzard it’s a blizzard. No need for either “-like” or “conditions.” And if it’s not a blizzard it’s either “near-blizzard weather” or “not quite a blizzard.”
“The” is a “specifier,” as opposed to “a” which is a “generalizer.” For example, “He lives in a house on Main Street” is a general statement. “He lives in the house on Main Street,” tells us something specific. Either his is the only house on Main Street, or something is coming up to specify precisely in which house on Main Street he lives.
It could be that “he lives in the house on Main Street that is blue.” It could be that “he lives in the blue house on Main Street.”
You could even put “the” in front of Main Street --if you are going to get more specific. For example, “he lives in a house on the Main Street hill.” Or he once lived in a house that is now the Main Street overpass.
Get it?
So why, when talking about --not so much when writing about-- highways, do people use “the” so often? “Take 101 for five miles” saves 12.5% of your voice compared to “Take the 101 for five miles.”
Is it a “California” thing? Is it a “generational” thing?
Now, if you mean “the 101 tunnel” as opposed to “the 101 overpass,” then “the” fits just fine, thank you. It’s a specifier. But we can still do without the “the” in “he took the 101 as it climbs into the mountains” or “there was an accident on the Eastbound 101.”
“Presently” means soon. Not now. “Now” means now. But when you use the present tense of a verb, there is no need to say now. Not even to say “right now” or “at this very instant.” There are degrees of past tense and future tense. “As we speak at this very moment” can readily replaced by “now” --saving precious syllables and seconds.
“Prerecorded” is the silliest thing imaginable. Think about what you are saying --twice. If the program that I am listening to is recorded, then of course it was “created earlier for broadcast at this time. “Pre” is duplicative, redundant, wasteful and uses an extra second.
“Premise” is an idea or theory.
“Premises” refers to a building.
“A.M.” means in the morning. “P.M.” means in the afternoon, in the evening or in the night. Saying 8 A.M. in the morning is silly; ditto 8 P.M. at night. Syllable-wasting.
“Hopefully” means full of hope. It doesn’t mean, “I hope.” If you mean that you hope it will rain then say, “I hope it will rain.” As with other adverbs, the “-ly” describes how something is doing something. “He went to the door hopefully” means that he was hoping to see something specific on the other side.”
“Go” is a verb that means to move or to transport. It does not mean to speak. “Say” does.
Calling something an “event” does not strengthen it. A “sales event of the century” is no more emphatic than a “sale of the century.” A “tornadic event” is no greater than “a tornado.”
What’s up with this sudden increase in the use of “kind of” and “sort of”?? Neither one makes any sense. Similar to the signature way that many politicians start an answer to a question with “Now let me say this about that....” Really worse. Each weakens the word or phrase that follows it. It makes me kind of angry. Huh? It either makes me angry or it doesn’t make me angry. If it makes me some kind of angry, what kind? Very angry? Then find a word for that. Perhaps livid. But you get my drift. Sort of.
“Unique” needs no modifier. It’s not the same as “one in a million.” It means the only one of its kind in the known universe. “Very unique” wastes a second.
“Honest” is much like pregnancy, and needs no degree-modifier. I suppose that one can be disgustingly honest or disappointingly honest. But not very or slightly honest. If you need to say “very” or “extremely” --or even “not very” or “partially”-- use “frank” or “candid.”
Daddy always told me to be careful of people who say something such as “Now, let me be honest with you.” It makes me wonder what they’ve been before now.
“Gifts” are free to the recipient. They can be “expensive gifts,” “silly gifts,” but not “free gifts.” If you feel a need to emphasize that something is free, then call it a “free offer,” or “free merchandise” or “free sample.”
“Concert” means together. It does not mean performance. A soloist cannot appear “in concert” unless there is someone else on the schedule. Use “performance,” “appearance” or “recital.”
“Near miss” is silly. To miss means to not collide. You can miss by a country mile or you can miss by the skin of your teeth. But you cannot “nearly miss” unless you actually collide. If you mean that they came “that close,” call it a near collision or a close call.
Some other redundancies: live audience; past history. Silly, eh!
“Lend” is a verb. I will lend you my ears. He lent me his car.
“Loan” is a noun representing that which was lent. “This is a loan, not a gift.” Do not “loan” someone money. “Lend” it.
“Who” always refers to people, as in “the man who came to dinner.”
“That” always refers to non-people, as in “the steak that was served for dinner was eaten by the dog that was brought by the man who came to dinner.”
“-wise” makes no sense. Not grammarwise; not understandingwise. Try “in terms of....”
“Would like to” is a negative-conditional statement that implies that certain conditions have not been met. A simple “thank you” is shorter/cleaner than “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Board for giving me this honor.”
“Imply” is used when something that I say that hints at something else.
“Infer” is what you do when you read something into what I actually say.
“Point in time” is for use only by astronomers and astrophysicists. All others use “moment,” “point” or “time.” Save space, save syllables, save seconds.
“Issue” is what magazines and newspapers have. Major biblical characters have them, too. Along with “matter” and “subject,” they are weak and tend to diminish what’s being discussed. If it’s a problem, call it a problem.
“Guys” has overrun us. Until recently it was a slang term for a small group of males, as in “Guys and Dolls.” Maybe “guys” as opposed to “gals.” An elementary-school teacher might say “You boys line up there; you girls line up here.” But a high-school teacher would probably say “You guys stand there; you gals stand here.” So could it be that in search of Title 9 gender equality everyone became “guys”? There seems to be a shortage of acceptable terms for females older than 10, when they seem to stop being “girls.” Some cringe at “ladies.” Some find it awkward to use “women.” Is that why we’ve fallen back on the short and neutral “guys”? Or is it the “Northernization” of you-all? Whatever it is, “you guys” is absolutely unnecessary and sometimes inappropriate. When the waitress in the diner asks, “do you guys want more coffee?” it’s merely unnecessary. (After all, “you” can refer to any number of people.) But when the waitress in a white-linen-tablecloth restaurant asks, “how do you guys want your filet mignon?” it’s inappropriate at best. “You” will do 99% of the time.
The “svp” in RSVP means please. The R is for reply. Please don’t use “Please RSVP.” If you must, try “Please reply.” If you feel a need to be particularly wordy, then “The courtesy of a reply will be appreciated.” Or simply “RSVP.”
“Potentially” means might. “Could” means might. “Perhaps” means might. “Probably” means might.” Doubling-up doesn’t strengthen your point.
“Full-court press” does not mean aggressive. Quite the opposite. Few basketball defenses are more tiring than the full court press. But when it's done effectively, the offense will feel exhausted, too. Get it? Defensive!
Speaking of which, the emphasis in both offense and defense is on the last syllable. It’s not “OFFense” and “DEfense” but “offENSE” and “deFENSE” --as in the U.S. Department of Defense or “His offense was but a minor infraction.”
“Exodus” means a mass departure of people as described in the Biblical Book of the same name. There’s no need for size modifiers such as “huge” or “mass” and certainly not “little.”
“Cliché” means an expression or idea that has become trite because it’s old and overused. There’s no need for age modifiers such as “old” or “timeworn” and certainly not “new.” An expression or idea can, however, certainly be described as “rapidly becoming a cliché.”
“Track record” describes what “Man-o-War” had --what NASCAR drivers have. For the rest of us, a simple “record” will do very well, thank you.
“Citizen” describes the legal relationship of a person to a country. We are “residents” of our towns, cities or states. Unless you’re British, in which case you are a “subject” of the Queen.
North Dakota’s “border” with Canada does not exist. One’s a state; one’s a nation. It’s the U.S. border with Canada along North Dakota or through or along.
“Engine” means an internal combustion machine, which is what most cars have -- though we go “motoring,” use “motor oil” and license it at the ‘Motor Vehicle Department.”
“Motor” means a device that runs on electricity, as in a fan, a sewing machine or your friend’s mouth.
“Person” vs. “Man.” Some people confuse women’s liberation to preclude the use of all gender-specific words. (I’m not one of them.) There are no such words as “spokesperson,” “foreperson,” or “waitperson.” If you mean a female spokesman, then say so. If it bothers you to say “Ms. Smith’s spokesman, Ms. Jones,” then try “representative.” Or deal with it. If you bothers you to say “Ms. Smith, the foreman of the jury, call her “Madam Foreman.” Similarly, it’s “Madam Chairman.” Even “The chair” is less awkward than “chairperson.” And “chairwoman” sound so much like “charwoman.” (Is there such thing as a “charman”?) Fortunately, there are gender specific words for server. They are “waiter” and “waitress.” (As in “host” and “hostess.”) How silly to say “hoster.” There are gender specific words for pilot. They are “aviator” and “aviatrix.” But not “pilotperson” in the name of gender neutrality.
“Number,” when used to describe an amount, is a vague, nebulous, inexact, weak word --as in “He went to the well a number of times.” It could mean one; it could mean a million. Strive for precision: “He went to the well a dozen times.” “He went to the well more than 50 times.” “He went to the well once or twice.”
“Approximately” is used when you mean to be vague. “It’s approximately 75 degrees out.” Or “it’s approximately 150 miles from here to there.” Just don’t use it when you are being precise: “It’s approximately 72 degrees out.” Or “it’s approximately 143.7 miles from here to there."
“Value” can mean worth or it can mean a specific metric. But what does the word add to communications to say that “the humidity value is 75%” or that “the dew point value is 60”? Zip.
