In the tranches with the NY Times.

A style law at the New York Times requires reporters to use a foreign or hi-falutin’ word whenever possible. Here’s a great example in a Sept. 28, 2019, story:

“WASHINGTON — House Democrats, kick-starting their impeachment inquiry into President Trump, subpoenaed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday, demanding he produce a tranche of documents related to the president’s dealings with Ukraine.”

Now, unless you are a banker, investor or bond trader, you’ll ask, “What the hell is a tranche?” So you go to Merriam-Webster for definition of tranche: “… a division or portion of a pool or whole;
specifically: an issue of bonds derived from a pooling of like obligations (such as securitized mortgage debt) that is differentiated from other issues especially by maturity or rate of return.”

A search through the New York Times finds some 850 uses, most of them in business stories referring to portions of money or loans.

So now you know. In plain English, the Democrats want some documents, but not all of ’em.

File under: All the news that’s fit to confuse.