1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Words That Sportswriters Use That Make Me Cringe

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by LanceyHoward, Dec 18, 2020.

  1. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    Oh, and Mr McIntyre.

     
  2. MTM

    MTM Well-Known Member

    Another one overused is “the suspect fled on foot.” What’s wrong with “ran away?”
     
    garrow, maumann and MileHigh like this.
  3. ondeadline

    ondeadline Well-Known Member

    Also irritating in a coverage area where there are multiple hospitals: "He was taken to THE hospital."

     
    MileHigh likes this.
  4. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    Goodness, yes.

    He was taken to a hospital.
     
  5. 3_Octave_Fart

    3_Octave_Fart Well-Known Member

    I want to say that's a British deal. The kind of usage that has become commonplace from the culture's absorption of period dramas.

    "He went to court" = not too dissimilar.
    "He went to university" = not too dissimilar.
    "I spent my weekend at bar" instead of "I spent my weekend at a bar" is where it gets tricky.
     
  6. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Because he couldn't get away.
     
  7. goalmouth

    goalmouth Well-Known Member

    Nothing more irritating than the British-rooted "went missing".
     
  8. Mngwa

    Mngwa Well-Known Member

    Did they run?
     
  9. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    One of the bigger shifts in sportswriting is the adoption of coach-y jargon designed to tell, well, the coaches how smart you are. And perhaps your colleagues. The readers often have far more basic - and, sometimes, more accurate - views of the sport.
     
    Tarheel316 and maumann like this.
  10. Slacker

    Slacker Well-Known Member

    The stadium is located on Dump That Word Avenue.
     
    Bronco77, MileHigh and I Should Coco like this.
  11. I Should Coco

    I Should Coco Well-Known Member

    Running grip-and-grin photos is bad enough, but they often have cutlines such as this:

    "Opal Smith, Bertha Jones and Gertrude Jenkins present a check in the amount of $50 to the Podunk Humane Society ..."

    "Donate $50" works for me.
     
  12. Dog8Cats

    Dog8Cats Well-Known Member

    "a single [usually with] gunshot wound" ... "a gunshot wound"
    "hospitalized with multiple injuries" ... "hospitalized with injuries" [plural tells us it's multiple]
    "dates back to" ... "dates to"
    "burned down to the ground" ... "burned to the ground"

    I could spend hours on this sort of thing.
     
    garrow, Bronco77 and I Should Coco like this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page