Main Event

It’s a sale. It’s a wildfire. It’s a blizzard. Sometime during 2009 writers discovered the word ”event.” And then over-dosed on it, hoping to impress others with the importance of something.

Actual Event Planners and Convention Managers world-wide must be cringing --to say nothing of boxing promoters with their “main event.” All of a sudden, everything’s an “event.”

So every car dealer, furniture store and many other retailers began hyper-ventilating about some major "sales event." Every news reporter was "live at the scene" of a disastrous "wildfire event." And many a weather reporter was describing some "blizzard event" or "tornado event." That's almost as silly as "blizzard conditions" or "a first down situation" or "drought conditions" or "freeway system" or "downtown area." How 'bout a new one that I saw today: "a resort destination"?

Most of the time it’s an utter waste of either ink or air-time, as the word adds nothing to the strength of the statement. (See “condition,” “system” and others that subvert their way into the writing of the careless who want to sound important.)

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of crisp writing and have a delete event.