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WebWord Weblog Posting Posting Date: August 05, 2003 News writing: The 100 worst groaners -- "A 'groaner' is a hackneyed, overblown, stuffy or just plain silly cliché that turns up time after time in news scripts. Groaners show laziness on the part of writers, disrespect for the folks watching, and a general contempt for lively English. Here are some of the worst offenders. You’ll recognize them immediately, so get ready to groan!" (Comments: Got any of your own to add, even in print/Web journalism?)
Reader Comments...
Would be excellent if the author had been satisified with 50. The silliest item is: In The Line Of Duty - Coptalk. Noble as it may sound, this is not normal conversational English. What’s wrong with saying the police officer was killed on the job? Does the author know the alternative meaning of "on the job"? Posted by: Philip Chalmers on August 5, 2003 05:24 AM
The writer of this list struck me as peevish. In broadcast journalism, I think you need variety, and these cliches, alternated with more straightforward expressions, provide variety without asking the audience to think too much about what they're hearing. A listener has to process serially, and something too original will get in the way of later information. Take these cliches away, and the audience will be left with a very dry newscast; and the station's ratings will fall. Posted by: Frank on August 8, 2003 10:00 PM
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