View unanswered posts | View active topics

Page 1 of 1

[ 9 posts ]

Previous topic | Next topic

Author	Message
Bumfketeer	Post subject: Beheading Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 7:50 am
Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2002 1:01 am Posts: 3557 Location: Cusp of retirement, grave or both	Stories about the execution of hostages repeatedly refer to them as "beheadings." It feels like an overload.<p>If they were being executed by firing squad or hanging or some other method, the stories might be more likely to refer to them as "killings" or 'executions."<p>What say we lighten up on the use of "beheading?" We can give the method used, but do we really have to use the B-word over and over and over?
Top

jjmoney62	Post subject: Re: Beheading Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 8:54 am
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 12:01 am Posts: 3135 Location: Albuquerque, N.M. USA	I'm sure the administration would like it if we didn't use the word so much.
Top

Oeditpus Rex	Post subject: Re: Beheading Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 10:45 am
Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2003 1:01 am Posts: 1324 Location: N 36° 57' 9", W 121° 24' 2"	<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by jjmoney62: I'm sure the administration would like it if we didn't use the word so much.<hr></blockquote>I doubt it. It's a "shock and awe" word likely to stir support for The War On Terror. <p>But when it happens here, "beheaded" doesn't appear until the 14th graf: One account of 3 killings, but no motive (Baltimore Sun)
Top

Bumfketeer	Post subject: Re: Beheading Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 4:26 pm
Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2002 1:01 am Posts: 3557 Location: Cusp of retirement, grave or both	I think you made my point better than I did, Oed...
Top

Bumfketeer	Post subject: Re: Beheading Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 4:38 pm
Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2002 1:01 am Posts: 3557 Location: Cusp of retirement, grave or both	New York Post hed on Monday:<p>ANOTHER BEHEADING LOOMS
Top

Jackie	Post subject: Re: Beheading Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 8:45 pm
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2003 1:01 am Posts: 598 Location: The Herald in Everett, WA	<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Bumfketeer: New York Post hed on Monday:<p>ANOTHER BEHEADING LOOMS<hr></blockquote><p>That's so New York Post. (Weird mental image, isn't it, a looming beheading.) That aside, I don't have a problem with "beheading," although I certainly understand the urge to groan upon seeing the word for the godzillionth time. I prefer "beheading" to "decapitation," which to me sounds way too antiseptic and civilized, or the description of the act, "head cut off" or somesuch.
Top

jjmoney62	Post subject: Re: Beheading Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 9:43 am
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 12:01 am Posts: 3135 Location: Albuquerque, N.M. USA	<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by slummingreporter: For what it's worth . . . . . <hr></blockquote><p>Exactly.
Top

Display posts from previous: All posts1 day7 days2 weeks1 month3 months6 months1 year Sort by AuthorPost timeSubject AscendingDescending  Previous topic | Next topic

Page 1 of 1

[ 9 posts ]

What They're Saying

"This is like group therapy with prisoners in the Poynter Institute's dungeon." ... "You take a vocation that the simple-minded consider to be mere drudgery, and you exploit every bit of fascinating and humorous nuance imaginable." ... "Delicious" ... "Ask your professors? The only professors whose opinions matter are named Walsh, Blanchard and McIntyre." ... "What I come here for, I can find ONLY here. Phillip, you've built a great place." ... "Nothing gets us hotter than reading bitchy discussion threads from over-exhausted copy editors endlessly debating the merits of "theater" versus "theatre." ... "I love this site. It's better than the Kool-Aid acid tests." ..."I'm awed at the efficiency with which matters of opinion get hashed out in this forum." ... "Phil is the bomb!" ... "I'd wager that it's exactly your sort of hidebound thinking that contributes to the problems newspapers are having attracting readers." ... "I'm totally obsessed with this site. It's like porn--if you get off on Scrabble." ... "It reveals the backstage carping and vindictive emotions that roil the souls of those trapped at the copy desks." "When they say "testy," they certainly mean it. Whether it's reporters, editors, or the general public, no one is above their savage snark." ... "An apparent crack in the thin grey line." ..."Testy Copy Editors is a bitchboard for journalism's underclass." ... "My desire to read 'Testy Copy Editors' is only rivalled by my desire to pop "Constipated Call Girls" in the DVD player." ... "Phillip Blanchard is not just a testy copy editor, but a prophet scorned in his own time, and those of us who defend wordplay will be punished for it come the Judgment Day." ... "Phil Blanchard is as dashing in person as he is at the TCE board." ... "As far as writing and editing go: Read this board, read Bill Walsh, memorize the style book, read William Zinsser, and read the New York Times. That's a good start." ... "You should let go of your bitterness. You were not the oppressed talent you thought yourself to be. You were a miserable, brooding, silent, joyless grind, lucky to have a job at the Sun-Times, and we're lucky now that you've moved on to afflict others."

Useful Links

Our 2003 ACES Handout
Our 2004 ACES Handout
Our 2005 ACES Handout
Our 2006 ACES Handout
Our 2009 ACES Handout
The Slot (Bill Walsh)
HeadsUp: The Blog
John McIntyre
Regret the Error
Banned for Life

TCE RSS Feed