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Avoid cliches like the plague: WGN’s banned words

By Steve Safran ⋅ March 12, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

The list has already gained infamy. A writer for NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Blog Me used them all in one sentence. Now we’ve got it – the list of 119 words and phrases that Tribune CEO (that’s right – CEO) Randy Michaels has banned from the airwaves of WGN-AM. It’s a little troubling that a directive like this would come from the top, but at the same time you have to admire the guy (a forbidden word) for taking a stand against cliches, news-speak and unnecessary adjectives. Blogolo’s Robert Feder has the full list. We’ll just pinch a few here, adding our own parenthetical notes along the way:

AGREE:
“Good” or “bad” news (“There is good news tonight regarding…” Nobody talks this way.)
5 a.m. in the morning (We see it all the time… ditto “5 p.m. in the evening” and “12 pm noon.”)
At this point in time (Why not “Now?”)
Definitely possible (As is everything)
In other news (A very lazy segue)
Lucky to be alive/Untimely death (Who are we to say?)

DISAGREE:
Guys (There is a difference between “men” and “guys.” Just ask any woman.)
Diva (How else to report on Maria, Cher and Tyra?)
Informed sources say… or Sources say… (We don’t love these, but sourcing is tough)
Manhunt (This is what the police call it, and it’s not a cliche. It tells you how serious the search is.)
Torrential rain (It is descriptive in a way that “heavy rain” doesn’t capture.)
Those of you (What about for those of you for whom this is an issue?)

MEH:
Hunnert when you mean hundred (This is a big problem?)
Really (Really?)
Icon (A movie icon is a step above being a movie star. Why is this an issue?)
Dubbaya when you mean double you (Did they hire the former president?)
Bare naked (This comes up a lot, does it?)

HE LEFT OUT:
In a few moments (How many seconds in a moment?)
Cut the mustard (Not hard to do. What is hard is to cut the muster.)
The proof is in the pudding (No, it’s not. The proof of the pudding is in the tasting.)
Every parent’s worst nightmare (My personal #1 peeve. I’m a parent, and my worst nightmare involves being naked in a college classroom taking a test I didn’t study for…)

What else do you agree with/disagree with/think he left out?

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Comments for “Avoid cliches like the plague: WGN’s banned words”

  • The Unknown Known
    Thou shalt not have WGN on my cable system. Verily I say tis truth!
  • adm
    "The _____ may surprise you."
  • The Unknown Known
    OH I LOVE MATCH GAME!
  • I abhor the utterance of "welcome back" after a commercial break. The viewer hasn't gone anywhere!
  • The Unknown Known
    They could've been to the mailbox, or the kitchen or even the bathroom! Don't you believe that missing the ads (even SEEING them) qualifies as a TRIP???
  • The Unknown Known
    I would believe you could blissfully ignore it if you were Gabriel Kaplan.
  • The Unknown Known
    That he was one of that hacks who just about killed radio as I recall and he doesn't deserve to shine shoes in a Minnesota airport.
  • TR
    I had a VERY long list of these in TV days. Too tired at the moment to try to remember them all. But two things:

    If we're talking about pronunciation, let's make sure to add "nuke-you-ler" to the list (what IS it with presidents who can't pronounce nuke-LEE-er?) ...

    Regarding "those of you," I am on their side if this is the intention: To reinforce that you do not speak to viewers (readers, listeners) as if you are speaking to a crowd. Most media is personal. Even if you are sitting in a group watching/listening/reading it, you experience it personally. TV in particular. I almost ground my teeth out of my head every time I heard an anchor say "Good evening, everyone." You are not on a stage bellowing at a crowd. Speak and write as if you have an audience of one - that's the connection. No "those" or "everyone" or "some of you" etc.
  • I can't stand hearing snow referred to as "the white stuff."
  • The Unknown Known
    If they call it flakes do you have either?
  • Romano
    "Bucks"

    Is "dollars" that difficult?
  • The Unknown Known
    Who has either?
  • Foaming Solvent
    Thank you for the third "He Left Out." That is one of my biggest language pet peeves. What would "The proof is in the pudding" mean, exactly? Do people stop and listen to themselves? I know nobody in journalism has ever read Don Quixote, but that is where "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" comes from.

    Another pet peeve is the use of "less" when the correct word is "fewer." The candidate did not get less votes than his opponent, he got fewer votes; there are not less students enrolled in Seattle's schools now, there are fewer students enrolled. (A few years ago, I got QFC to change their Express Lane signs to say "Eight items or fewer," although I have seen some backsliding on this.)
  • steve
    so this ( < ) is not the "less" than sign?

    it's actually the "fewer" than sign?
  • Foaming Solvent
    No, it's the less than sign.

    You use "less" with things you measure (length, volume, weight, time, e.g.), or with numbers as numbers, and you use "fewer" with things you count. Six is less than seven. John lost less weight than Mary. Mary ate fewer baked potatoes than John. John drank fewer glasses of wine than Mary; John drank less wine than Mary.

    You could say, "The number of glasses of wine John drank is less than the number of glasses of wine Mary drank," but you wouldn't.
  • The Unknown Known
    That would imply Mary is an alcoholic and we shouldn't...
  • The Unknown Known
    You are just dancing on the heads of pins, waiting for the end of the world, creating a new paradigm I say! WHEE!
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