Journalese of the Day: Curved yellow fruit

A Law of Journalese requires that an important word cannot be used twice in one sentence. Our Journalese Dictionary calls this “The Curved Yellow Fruit Law,” based on a British paper’s report of “Banana pickers in Ecuador have demanded hourly wages instead of pay based on the number of the curved yellow fruit picked in a day.” In compliance with this law, the Boston Globe, Aug. 25, 2016, in a story about a state senator’s home tax assessment after upgrades, writes: “His son suggested the Globe ignored or misread the permits — which were described in detail in the news organization’s original story.”

We’ll take up the great journalese word “suggested” another time.

-Robert Skole