Monthly Archives: February 2019

I’m sure some editor was waiting a long time to use “humungous” in a headline. Well, the story evidently arrived. Here it is, in the Boston Globe, Feb. 26, 2019: “Humongous typhoon hits Guam.” The AP story reported: “The US territory of Guam was sideswiped by the beastly storm named Wutip on Saturday. It was whirling Monday morning about 300 miles west of the Mariana Islands, with 150-mile-per-hour sustained winds… Read Article →

When a reporter wants to insert his or her own opinion, speculation or guess into a news story, a handy word is “suggests.” Here’s an excellent example from a Washington Post story from London, in the Boston Globe, Feb. 21, 2019, about three members quitting Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party, joining eight who left the Labor Party: “The creation of a small but potentially powerful independent block of 11… Read Article →

The word “brandish” is terrific example of journalese. It’s usually used in cops’ stories, to describe a guy “brandishing” a gun or a knife. You’d rarely hear it used in everyday speech. It’s in police reports, that reporters love to quote. The Boston Globe in the past two weeks had a story of a gentleman brandishing a gun in a hold-up and another brandishing a knife when caught stealing food… Read Article →