As you might expect of someone from my generation, I watch the evening news on television — which is what I’m going to talk about this week. No, I’m not going to go on about the news itself (which seems to be getting more and more bizarre by the day), but will instead be looking at some of the misused words and phrases I’ve heard recently used by newscasters reporting the news.
First up is “cache,” which is a hidden store of valuables or weapons. It is pronounced “cash,” not “ka-shay.” Cachet is an admirable quality, especially style, and it’s a pretty sure bet that soldiers didn’t stumble across a cache of stylish weapons.
When a reporter tells us about the burning house that was “fully engulfed” when the firefighters arrived, do you think, “Hey, that’s redundant. Engulfed already means ‘surrounded, covered over and swallowed up’.”?
And speaking of redundancy, did the arson investigator really think that the fire was “intentionally set?” It’s possible that the fire was started accidentally, but if somebody set the house on fire, they definitely intended to do it.
The next time you hear that a “wind turban” collapsed because of a broken “guide wire,” rest assured that it was actually a faulty guy wire that caused the wind turbine to topple, not a cloth headdress.
It’s always good to know that authorities have looked at a myriad of suspects and are honing in on the killer. But from a language perspective, it would be better to know authorities have looked at myriad suspects and are homing in on the killer.
How about that rare Duisenberg that’s only one of five made? Actually, it’s one of only five that were ever built. If only everybody knew where to put their “only.”
Kudos to WCSH anchor Rob Caldwell, who evidently corrected what he saw on the teleprompter when he said, “Lyft’s current fleet has fewer than . . . or has less than 1% electric cars.” That man knows his amounts from his numbers.
I’ll close with a few more random things that irk me, and, since you’re reading this column, I’m willing to bet that they irk you too:
* Why do some reporters begin most of their sentences with “now?”
* Also, you don’t have to tell us, we already know that “billion” begins with a b.
* And finally, according to frequently asked question 29 at pulitzer.org, the correct pronunciation of “Pulitzer” is “PULL it sir.”
As Walter Cronkite used to say, “And that’s the way it is.” Or at least that’s the way I think it should be.
Jim Witherell of Lewiston is a writer and lover of words whose work includes “L.L. Bean: The Man and His Company” and “Ed Muskie: Made in Maine.”
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