Hulking rule violated

A rule of journalese requires that all parking garages or old buildings the reporter doesn’t like, and which a favored developer wants to replace with condos (luxury, of course), must be described as “hulking.” The Boston Globe violated this rule recently when Wynn Resorts announced a ferry service to its Encore casino in Everett, adjoining Boston. The casino is expected to open in June. The Globe reported: “The service will run year-round….and trips will take about 20 minutes from downtown to the foot of the hulking multibillion-dollar facility.”

The “hulking…facility” is a 27-story building, with 671 hotel rooms, a casino, and a dozen restaurants. It will employ about 5,000 workers. It cost $2.6 billion to build.

This is the first time the development-boosting Globe reported a new building as “hulking.”

File under: Reporters as architectural critics.