Ethics-related, maybe not so much. But in all that bias project research, one thing I realized is just how awful some published writing actually is. Part of the decay comes from overusing cheap phrases like "Governator" and "Scalito."
Wonkette's compilation may as well be spiral-bound and sitting next to the AP Stylebook in most newsrooms.
The media invents these gems. Crafty little wordsmiths think up beauties like "Plamegate," run them once, then - like every pop song ever played on the radio - drive them shamelessly into the ground.
It's usually not even clever the first time. (Read: Every scandal need not end in "gate.") But they stick with it, just in case readers might come around. (Kind of like how you found yourself singing "Toxic" a couple years ago just because it was looped on FM radio. There's no shame here.)
Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" includes this cardinal rule: "Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print." Just because other writers are jumping off the bridge doesn't mean everyone has to.
It might take a minute to think of another way to describe Schwarzenegger (who apparently is a movie star-turned-governor...get it?), but those who appreciate the English language would be grateful.
Melanie Brooks @ November 15, 2005 - 12:17am
The recent scandal-gate phenomenon is as stale as two month old bread left out in the sun. Damn whoever it was who came up with the term "Bennifer". There seems to be no end in sight for these name games.
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