New England law of weather reporting.

A New England journalese law of weather reporting requires any big storm to be called a “nor’easter.” It doesn’t matter if the storm is from the south or west, it’s a nor’easter. Sounds tough. And in keeping with the law, The Boston Globe identified the current storm a nor’easter, in a page one story Jan. 4, 2017. This irked a reader, whose letter to the editor was published the next day, under the headline “That’s ‘northeaster’ to you.” The letter reads:

Re “Snow set to storm in” (Page A1, Jan. 4): I would think that you would be perfectly capable of spelling “northeaster” (a real word) and not have to resort to “nor’easter” as if you were transcribing the oral comments of an uneducated 19th-century lobster fisherman. Eric J. Evans, Brookline.

File under: Letters editors never read.

www.JournaleseDictionary.com

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