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30 and 28 Oct 2008
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Born today in 1789: Astronomer William Cranch Bond |
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Popular media-marinated clichés we could all do without (Part II)
October 30th, 2008
True believers
These are people who take something seriously that the reporters think (or their editor wants them to think) is codswallop. Of course all but the very weirdest religions are exempt.
The mother of all [fill in phenomenon or human act of your choice]
Hmm. Why on earth should should we revel in a catch phrase popularized by Saddam Hussein during the first gulf war?
Left [him or her] for dead
How do we know this? In many cases that might have been true, but I’m sure many perpetrators only left their victim for “hurt” or simply scrambled away without giving the matter a second thought.
So many years at hard labor
Under Nazi Germany or in the Soviet Gulag this would certainly have been accurate, but rarely nowadays in the US. Most of our inmates do work in some fashion — making street signs, staffing a call center, or cooking food, say — but not usually at something people would visualize as truly Cool Hand Luke-style hard. More than anything else, we just stress and bore our convicts to death.
Save 20% Off!
This reminds me of things like “minus 50 below zero.” You either save 20%, or you get 20% off.
Obviously this driver has no consideration for the lives of bystanders [heard over cop-cam video of a rough car chase]
Again with the clairvoyance. In many cases the speeding motorist probably tried very, very hard not to hit anybody despite his or her desperation to escape.
Popular media-marinated clichés we could all do without (Part I)
October 28th, 2008
They used the Jaws of Life
Any excuse to trot this out. Why not just say the rescuers cut the victim out of the wreckage, as they would have done in any era, with or without fancy hydraulics?
Watched in horror
Anyone who sees something that came out tragically, or at least might have, is automatically declared to have done this. For all we know, the witnesses may well have been only moderately worried or, if they didn’t properly assess the situation or anticipate an unhappy outcome, quite indifferent or even intrigued.
Common law husband/wife
Always said about someone else, preferably someone missing an alarming percentage of their teeth and/or languishing in a trailer park.
A bus plunged...
When buses accidentally go downward someplace where they’re not supposed to, they always plunge. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that they’re long and skinny, at least remotely like a bathroom plunger save for the rubber cup at the end.
When asked if he or she was a hero, the answer was no
Resolved: If I ever rescue a child from a sewer pipe or jump into the driver’s seat of a loaded bus to keep it from “plunging” somewhere horrible, I’ll say yes, I certainly am a hero. Please print my picture on the front page above the fold and shower me with whatever accolades you have available.