Persnickety Publishing Pet-Peeves

-


For better or for worse, warranted or unwarranted, when I encounter certain terms, phrases, and misappropriations in an article, the irrational, impatient side of me wants to discard the piece altogether. Granted, I try to use my better judgment and gauge what I read on its analytic integrity and substance rather than on its style, so I try to push on despite my fastidious aggravation. Lord knows I make plenty of errors in my own writing. Nevertheless, here are a few examples of what irks me the most:

Ubiquitous and Overused Words

Surreal

As long as people continually use the term surreal for every action and event, the term will be rendered meaningless.

Wheelhouse

No. Just No. Only narcissists need this word in their vocabulary.

Pivot
A pivot used to be something I did when I was a dancer and gymnast as a child. It is not something that everyone everywhere is doing now. Here are some alternatives for what you really mean:
Switch
Shift
Change
Deviate
Alter
Amend

Also, why on earth do writers and reporters feel the need to use the exact same language as every other writer and reporter? Is it showing that you possess the insider lexicon or is it just the juvenile high school need to feel like one belongs? Whatever the case, it is annoying – and it lends itself to satire when the Daily Show or Last Week Tonight put together a video reel of every broadcast reporter and their mother repeating the same exact term or phrase. Really, do you want to be one of those guys?

Mistaken and Wrong Usage

Try and …

As in, “Next week, I will try and write a more substantive article than this one.” “Try and…” might be okay when spoken. We all speak in colloquialisms that we would not put on paper, but the written word is different. Neither formal nor informal writing allows for the grammatical use of “try and …” as a substitute for “try to...”
Nonplussed

Contrary to popular opinion, nonplussed does not mean “unfazed” or “unaffected.” Yes, nonplussed really does sound like it should mean something like nonchalant – but it doesn’t. Our esteemed and “brilliant” president even used the word incorrectly when describing his daughter's reaction to his presidency. Regardless of what Obama may think, nonplussed actually means perplexed, bewildered, or fazed.

Toxin (n)

This one is near and dear to me, as the focus and interest of my scholarship lies in this realm. Somehow, probably because of the new-agey, faddish wellness movement in which people of extravagant wealth pay excessive amounts for “cleanses” as they strive to clear their bodies of “toxins,” toxin has come to mean a synthetic chemical or man-made pollutant.

Famous, successful writers, scientists, physicians, and even Ivy-League educated folk (I know, can you imagine?) use this term incorrectly. In doing so, it likens one to those who believe that rocks and crystals and expensive potions can instantaneously cure one of all ills.

Technically, a toxin is poisonous substance derived from an organism. Last month, I had a spider bite that produced a large, red, scaly, itchy rash on my back. It has only now finally receded. The venom from that spider was a toxin. The harmful synthetic substances, about which many people are rightfully concerned, are known as toxics or toxicants or pollutants or contaminants – not toxins.

The Intercept recently published a piece about Teflon, labeling it a “toxin.” When I received a link to the article from a listserv to which I belong, the moderator soft-corrected the article title and instead called it “The Teflon Toxic …” A man (or woman) after my own heart!



Reports, articles, analyses, and essays by radical, unconventional, iconoclastic, and moral voices are marginalized enough by the purveyors of conventional wisdom, It might do us all some good to pay careful attention to grammatical errors, misapplications, and overused terms that the corporate, capitalistic, elite class could use to dismiss writings that run counter to their precious status quo. We don’t need to provide them any more ammunition to discount important voices.



Kristine Mattis holds a Ph.D. in Environment and Resources. She examines science, health, and environmental communication within the context of social and environmental justice. Before returning to graduate school, Kristine worked as a medical researcher, as a science reporter for the congressional record in the U.S. House of Representatives, and as a teacher.
Contact: k_mattis@outlook.com and @kristinemattis.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When You Play the Plutocrats’ Game, They Win: On Civility and Half Measures

-
Image
Like many Wisconsinites, I am feeling rather dejected after the disappointing August 9 th recall elections. But unlike most of my brothers and sisters, my disappointment stems not so much from the outcome, but from the adherence to propriety and to a faith in inherently corrupt and unjust systems. I was inspired and awed by the spontaneous and sustained uprisings in February and March and solidarity of the people of Wisconsin. Having lived numerous places throughout this country, there is no other place I would have wanted to call home at that moment. I was so proud to be among the protesters and my tendency toward negativity was suspended for a brief period. And then it ended. People went back to work (or unemployment) and though small demonstrations continued, the massive manpower and money was instead redirected toward recalling six Republican state senators and attempting to replace them with Democrats. Though I was surprisingly impressed by the bold stand that the fourteen Demo...
Read more

Our Way of Life is the Public Health Crisis

-
Image
Years ago, when I taught science to junior high school students, I would sometimes make an offhand remark to the effect of “Animals like us….”   One or more students would respond, “Miss, we’re not animals!”   I doubt my adolescent students were alone in misunderstanding their place in the biological kingdom. The disconnect between humanity and the natural world, to which every living thing belongs, characterizes all industrialized nations. Our Western prioritization of artificial systems (economy) over natural systems (ecology) laid the groundwork for our perilous conditions. We were in crisis before this novel coronavirus pandemic, and we will continue to be in crisis after. It’s a classic tragedy, with our hubris and ignorance leading to the near-term extinction of our species, because our values and paradigms remain rooted in fantasy instead of reality. Ecological degradation for economic growth We should all find it ironic that the economic condition wh...
Read more

Delusion and Denial Part 1: Work, Jobs, Careerism, Charity

-
Image
Demotivator courtesy Despair, Inc:. http://www.despair.com/teamwork.html By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing – kill yourself. ---Bill Hicks I am no aficionado of Superman, but I must admit, I am one of “Seinfeld.” With reference to the latter and by default, the former: Everything around me these days makes me feel like I am living in Bizarro World. Everything is exactly the opposite of what it should be. To quote fictional Jerry, “…In the backwards Bizarro World….Up is down. Down is up. He says hello when he leaves, goodbye when he arrives.” The only problem is that unlike in “Seinfeld” this Bizarro World is far from hilarious. I find nothing much less bizarre than our notions of jobs and work. Because we westerners premise every aspect of our lives on money and the economy, we are all (but a very select elite few) wage slaves who have become totally and utterly dependent on working for an income in order to pay for our basic necessities of life. Part of ...
Read more