Got would?

Once received a call from an angry parent wanted to know why we were calling her darling a loser. "Um, ma'am? The other guy won. He lost. It's a result, not a character assessment."

Mom was not mollified. I still shake my head at that one.

 

Not so fast.

"fall" is one full headline count less than "lose." That can be the difference in being able to add the word "to" on the same line of a one-column headline, giving the full use of the next line for something like the opponent's nickname.

 

Basically.
A shit word that means nothing.
And I see it all - the - time.

 

You can apply that to 95 percent of adverbs. Weak adjectives, weak verbs, etc.

 

Aye. Adverbs are first to go if you're trying to save a line. Once had an instructor who would circle every one.
Like Derek Jacobi said about playing Shakespeare - you gotta belt out the verbs.
Then you don't need the shitty adverbs.

 

'Fall' and 'lose' are not the same. There is some subjective, greater emphasis with 'fall.' 'Alabama falls to Auburn' is not the same as 'Alabama loses to Auburn.' The desire for tight copy shouldn't eclipse good writing.

If the objection to the 'fall' is it is a cliche, fine. Doesn't mean it shouldn't be used.

 

To each his/her own ... I hate it and don't use it. Guess I'm a shitty writer. Based on your premise, there sure are a lot of significant losses anymore. I see/hear about them every single day.

Your example prompted an image in my head of the entire Alabama team laid out all over the field.

 

Using fall for lose joins my peeve of "pass away" for died.

Joe died. He didn't pass away.

It's nothing but a mollycoddling of emotions and lazy writing.

 

Couldn't agree more, but I'll take "passed away" any day over "went to be home with the Lord."

 

If someone's family submitting the obit wants to include anything along the lines of "slipped these bounds to be home with the Lord," I'm fine with that. That's their choice. If you're paying for the obit, as many newspapers require today, unless there's some kind of policy about mentioning God, the Lord, Sun Ra, Jehovah, DoggyCatGod or any other deity then I don't care.

Employees using passed away for died makes my head hurt, though.

 

I didn't mean to suggest an absolute. More that the a word can be used to differentiate things. Maybe it is overused and has become trite, but that doesn't mean the word or phrase can't have significance.

I'm pushing back against a suggestion that because a word or phrase is overused and poorly applied generally, it should be avoided. There are inherently poorly chosen words, but also ones that are just overused.

 

I like it when teams succumb to their opponent.