Tired cliches

[DOA]

Let's weed them out and stop using them! Here's a few to get started...

Live at Five (as opposed to dead at five?)
white stuff (snow)
Old man winter (hate that one)
Brutal murder (aren't they all?)

[Okie-Wan Kenokie]

I recently heard this one on a talk radio station:

"A carjacking gone bad."

Isn't a carjacking bad to begin with? Or I guess the carjacker had good intentions, but something went wrong, which in turn made the carjacking go bad?

[anchor]

a parents worst nightmare...

the gunman opened fire (arrrrggggg, hate this one the most!)

clinging to life...

[beau gus]

"Lucky to be Alive..." (according to whom?)

"The investigation continues..." (that's why it's called an investigation)

"that was _________ reporting live..." (this just after the intro and two minute live shot complete with super stating LIVE)

[the club]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Okie-Wan Kenokie:
I recently heard this one on a talk radio station:

"A carjacking gone bad."

Isn't a carjacking bad to begin with? Or I guess the carjacker had good intentions, but something went wrong, which in turn made the carjacking go bad?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

lol... never heard of a good carjacking. Maybe they were referring to that lady who took "The Club," beat the hell out of her carjacker and then drove away, dragging him alongside until he fell off. It definitely didn't go well for THAT carjacker.

[yoyo]

Hit the ground running

luck has run out

dragging thier feet

Tight lipped (hear this one everyday on my show)

(hold on, I'll pull up the show to find more)

[miss hap]

i'm up in arms over the carjacking that went terribly wrong. but now that we are taking a look behind the veil i feel lucky to be alive

[slotog]

It's not a spoken clich'e but a visual one the " Reporter look down during a live shot" I can understand if you are reading notes but many do it just to do it. Also the finger in the ear because the IFB doesn't fit right and station logo on mic flag,jacket,name super and live super all at the same time.

[Sarah]

"Tragic loss" or "Tragic death" (they're all tragic)

"With a crack of the bat"

"With the drop of a gavel"

"Old Man Winter" (can't we just say "winter?)

"Mother Nature" (can't we just say "nature"?)

"Fighting for his life"

Starting any sentence with "it was" or "there was"

[sportscliche]

If I hear "Such and such team controls their own destiny" one more time, I'll puke! Not only is it trite, it's an erroneous statement. You cannot control your own destiny! Destiny, or fate, is already set in stone and cannot be changed. If you could control it, then it would not be destiny! Dumbest sports cliche I've ever heard, and I'm a sports guy!

[Over Used]

"We have breaking news this evening."

[Anchorperson]

You peons really must read some dictionaries or whatever so you can learn new words and I will have new things to read when I am thrilling my audience!

[Language lover]

Great post! Redundancies kill us, too.

"Past history ..."

"From past experience ..." (When was the last time you had a future experience?)

Or some grammatical errors:

"Jane Smith says she could care less ..." (Which means she cares)

"OUR John Doe joins us from the scene ..." That's not news. Now, if you introduced your competitor's reporter ... that's news.

[Mom]

I'm so tired of "...lost his battle with cancer." That's all I heard yesterday in relation to the passing of Robert Urich (who I really liked, by the way). I know there aren't a lot of alternatives but I have never heard anything but "....lost his battle with cancer." You don't die of cancer. The most common cause of death when someone has cancer is pneumonia. So, here are a couple of alternatives to "...lost his battle with cancer."

Robert Urich died today. Diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 1996, he'd been in remission following chemotherapy. Urich succumbed to the effects of the disease at an LA hospital this morning.

or the shorter version...

Robert Urich died of complications related to a rare form of joint cancer.

or even...

Robert Urich lived with cancer since 1996. Today he died because of it.

[!]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mom:
I'm so tired of "...lost his battle with cancer." <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Let's not forget the oft-used but never supported "...is fighting for life tonight."

He is, huh? Are you sure? What if he's so injured that he's given up hope and is lying in bed praying for God to take him?

Unless you know the person involved, you're making a huge leap by throwing in a cliche phrase as if it's a fact. Then again, that's always the case when you use a cliche, I guess.

By the way..."rushed to a local hospital" is also annoying because it's (a) overused and (b) redundant, or at least an insult to the viewers' intelligence. The alternative would be, "The accident victim was driven slowly to a hospital several hundred miles away."

(While there is such a thing an an inter-hospital transfer, in almost every case we're writing about, we're not talking about that.)

Finally, "hospitalized" is crap. Stop saying it. You'd never say it in real life and if you by some chance did, people would look at you funny.




[This message has been edited by ! (edited April 17, 2002).]

[wassssup]

First of all, everything on FOX News Channel/MSNBC and CNN is now officially:

"Breaking News"

Its only a matter of time until someone comes up with BNC "Breaking News Channel" It'll be nothing but tickers like Bloomberg and Headline news (without the talking head)

The tickers can flow left to right/right to left/top to bottom as well as diagonally.

I'd watch it.

Seriously though, I'm growing tired of "the latest"

"The Queen Mum died yesterday from complications of old age....the latest up next..."

No latest. She died.

Really irritates me

[Nobody in particular]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Over Used:
"We have breaking news this evening."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's a good one, especially when the event took place 2 hours before the newscast and the scene has been cleared! Oh, I forgot there's this new kewl (Nd's phrase, not mine) 'breaking news" stinger we have to use.

[WELL???]

What about HATE CRIME? It's just a
crime!@#$% But, we have laws stating otherwise...I don't get it.

By the way, I was asked the other day why I didn't write an intro with "parents worst nightmare". My ND thought it would help get the viewer's attention. Our consultants would say the same thing. So, what's up with that?

[nope, nope, no no no]

On this one I must wholeheartedly disagree with you.

Car theft is a crime. Imbezzling from the bank is a crime. Rape is a crime. Shoplifting is a crime. Jaywalking in some locales is a crime. Murder is a crime.

Some crime is violent crime, some crime is white-collar corruption, some crime is quiet and barely noticed.

Three guys beating the living sh*t out of a person while yelling "FAGGOT" or "NIGGER" or "KYKE" etc then leaving the person for dead is a different thing and is most definitely a hate crime.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by WELL???:
What about HATE CRIME? It's just a
crime!@#$% But, we have laws stating otherwise...I don't get it.

By the way, I was asked the other day why I didn't write an intro with "parents worst nightmare". My ND thought it would help get the viewer's attention. Our consultants would say the same thing. So, what's up with that?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[!]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by WELL???:
By the way, I was asked the other day why I didn't write an intro with "parents worst nightmare". <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Okay, if YOUR story was about a parent's "worst nightmare," then make sure your ND knows that means NO ONE ELSE can use those words if you do--because if they did, then you (or they) would be lying. After all, yours was the worst. Nothing can be worse than "worst," so that's it for the phrase.

[Head Janitor]

'...could have been worse!'
This phrase has everything...it's lazy, passive, sensational, slices, dices, juliennes.

'treated and released.'
Really? Who cares then?

'Controversy'
Says who?

[wowzer]

Yikes!!!!
Just heard this on the CBS Early Show
"Breathing a collective sigh of relief.!"

Ugh!!

[amp]

Another writing pet peeve of mine is when the reporter/producer/writer uses a different word for the main idea in a story just to not repeat the word. For example, you have a story about a fire. The next time you need to say the word "fire", "blaze" will be in it place, or instead of "book", "tome", or instead of "Chicago", it's "The Windy City".

If one word describes it best, just use that word.

I swear, if we did a story about bananas, the second time we needed to say "banana", we'd call it "an elongated yellow fruit".


[This message has been edited by amp (edited April 18, 2002).]

[peevs]

Ok, it's time to get my peeve on...
I can handle most of the above as long as you don't do this one

"We all know (insert tragic, sad, disheartening or otherwise situation here), but one organization is trying to change that."

Arghhhhhh.

[Manoman]

"pleaded innocent"
NO SUCH PLEA! You Producers/Anchors ..PLEASE STOP IT!

[capegin]

I used to have a professor who HATED, "Topping the news..." No kidding? Its the first story... of course its topping the news!

[!]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by capegin:
I used to have a professor who HATED, "Topping the news..." No kidding? Its the first story... of course its topping the news!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's okay if you also say "Bottoming the news..." when you intro the kicker.

[tired]

"Closure". Good God, since the OKC bombing, that's the new catch-phrase for everything. Your school have a shooting? Let's bring in some grief counselors so the kids can have closure. Wife die in a plane crash? Time for some closure. Got herpes from a hooker? Seek that closure.

It's like the word never existed before 1995, and we have to use it up before it gets lost.

[Sarah]

Runners are out running this morning "for a good cause", bakers are baking tonight "for a good cause", people are doing whatever "for a good cause"... you get my drift.

[Go Blues!]

Newschannel Blank "has learned..."

Usually means you read it in the paper or saw it on another station. Please learn that nobody's impressed by what your station has "learned." Just f----n' tell me WHAT you've learned and not THAT you've learned it!!!

[Loren]

Our local 24 hour weather channel is now starting out each forecast as: "This is what you need to know" and ending it, "Know before you go." I think I'm going to barf!

Here's another one, "misplaced tractor trailer." (did someone lose it?)

[Rawhead Rex]

I like it when I am watching the news and the anchor starts the story by telling me to look at the video so I can look with even greater intensity than I am already using trying to stay focused on such boring pap.
BTW, "a parent's worst nightmare" is having the children move back home after graduation because they have degrees in communications and they took low paying jobs in television.

[!]

"...are mourning the loss of one of their own."

This phrase started years ago as a cliche to use in cop and fire stories where someone died in the line of duty.

But now, it's used in TV news anytime a member of any group dies--even if they don't actually hold an official ceremony. This seems to have started about five or six years ago.

"Local bread bakers are mourning the loss of one of their own tonight..."

It doesn't work, mostly because you can write it for every story. (And people have done just that.) It's self-evident.


[This message has been edited by ! (edited April 18, 2002).]

[fmrtv]

My Top 10!

1."completely submerged"

2. "completely destroyed"

3. "it was a terrible tragedy but the good news is..."

4. "neighbors can't believe it happend in their quiet neighborhood"

5. "No word yet.."

6. "Now.."

7. "We'll bring it right you."

8. "The fire and smoke gutted the home."

9. "We have limited information, but witnesses say the suspects were black males ."

10. "The gunman allegedly shot the man with a handgun."

[Desk Jockey]

OK, here's my favorite from the cliche' parade --

"we'll just have to wait and see."

Usually slapped on the end of a story that has an obvious followup instead of a cleanly written close. A heinous example of lazy reporting and writing.

[Vladimir Zworykin]

KILLER TORNADO!!

[yoyoho]

If you thing ___________, Think again!

ex:
"If you think you know how to do you taxes...THINK AGAIN!"

I hate this one...very degrading.

[OmahaTV]

TO ALL YOUNG SPORSCASTERS:

STOP with the ESPN-style catch phrases! You're not Dan Patrick, you're not Keith Olberman (by the way, what ever happened to him?). If you want to use the phrase "Booyah" please go to Bristol. "Break 'em off a lil' sumin', sumin'" and "He got all of that one" doesn't belong in Omaha, San Francisco, or Atlanta.

[OmahaTV]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DOA:
Let's weed them out and stop using them! Here's a few to get started...

Live at Five (as opposed to dead at five?)
white stuff (snow)
Old man winter (hate that one)
Brutal murder (aren't they all?)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

WITH A SCREEN NAME LIKE "DOA" YOU'VE GOT TO BE A PHOTOG, RIGHT?

[arg!]

"Making news this morning"

ESPECIALLY if it's a story that happened last night. I mean, if it's in the program, it must be "making news." Don't need to tell me.

[Shhh, Listen]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by OmahaTV:
TO ALL YOUNG SPORSCASTERS:
you're not Keith Olberman (by the way, what ever happened to him?). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've heard him on radio programs, filling in for Paul Harvey and earlier this week subbing for Sam Donaldson on his radio show.

[GearedOut]

Gearing up
Kicking into high gear
Shifting gears now...

[capegin]

I hate when necessary words are omitted. For example, "Firefighters fighting a blaze in downtown ________ tonight. It began..." That was not a sentence. It was a fragment. Firefighters ARE/ARE STILL... anything, just make a complete sentence! (and I' know I'm guilty of it too sometimes.)

[Oh yeah!]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by capegin:
I hate when necessary words are omitted. For example, "Firefighters fighting a blaze in downtown ________ tonight. It began..." That was not a sentence. It was a fragment. Firefighters ARE/ARE STILL... anything, just make a complete sentence! (and I' know I'm guilty of it too sometimes.)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Man, if I had a nickel for every time our anchors did that to my copy, I'd never have to work again! God, I HATE that! Counsultant buls**t!!!

[infobabe]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by capegin:
I used to have a professor who HATED, "Topping the news..." No kidding? Its the first story... of course its topping the news!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Your professor was smart. That phrase is tired and cliche and one that I personally hate too.

And I'm going to barf if I have to hear one more story about how tornado/storm victims are "picking up the pieces of their lives".

[Rawhead Rex]

And now for something completely different, isn't today the 11th year and six month anniversary of the first misuse of the word anniversary?

[observer]

the word "resident"

"Police are looking for suspects." (No, they're looking for the persons responsible)

Any type of drug bust where police give you "an estimated street value of $_____."
(talk about inflation)

The number of alarms in a fire.

The words "resident," "literally" and
"firestorm"

In sports, "unanswered points."

"That's right, _____." (Anchor, reporter catch-all)

There are others, but only time will tell if I remember them. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Puckered Up]

...took it on the chin!...

Every time I hear that, I think of a joke I heard as a kid. (my folks owned a tavern and I grew up around an unsavory bunch)
What do you have when there are nuts on your wall? Walnuts.

What do you have when there are nuts on your chest? Chestnuts.

What do you have when there are nuts on your chin? I don't think I really need to tell you the punch line.

[Shaky & Blue]

I hate the word could used in a newscast.

"You COULD be exposed to deadly anthrax in your own back yard!"

"Deadly germs COULD be lurking in your kitchen sink!"

"Area residents (just for you, Observer) COULD be exposed to lethal radiation levels!"

"Monkeys COULD fly out of my ass!"

These statements of what could happen are usually followed by a set of conditions that are so improbable as to make them virtually irrelevant to any but the most retarded viewer. "Anthrax is naturally present in soil in our area, but you'd have to inhale thousands of spores to contract the disease." That means you'd have to lay on the ground and sniff the dirt; and in order to find a lethal patch, you'd have to touch your nose to the ground in hundreds or thousands of places over acres of land. But hey, it COULD happen.

News is about what IS happening or likely to happen, not about random speculation engineered to produce great teases that scare the viewer into watching, only to be disappointed that hundreds really won't die as a result of the deadly conditions that COULD occur.

[69 cents]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by observer:
The number of alarms in a fire.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Here every fire has flames SHOOTING out of the windows! Every house, factory, barn, meth lab...... flames were shooting out of the structure on approach. Fire officials tell us flames were shooting from the roof. When has a flame ever Shot anyone? In Nebraska fireman wear bullet proof vests, because every fire is shooting at them!


ARGGGGGH!

[mmm]

This isn't a verbal one, but it's about anchors who turn to the side of the studio durring a cutin in to "see" what time the cut-in hits... even if it hits the same time every day...

almost as bad as the reporter look down at notes one.

[Professor]

Isn't, "She turned up missing." a contradiction?

[Tired Management Cliches]

And how 'bout management's crap?

WE'VE GOT TO THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX ON THIS ONE!

WE'VE GOT TO ADVANCE THE STORY
even if there's not a GD thing left to do and it's been beaten to death in the previous days.

WE'VE GOT TO RATCHET UP THE LEVEL OF EXCITEMENT IN OUR NEWSCAST!

I've got to go puke now.

[Franklin]

Here are some of the tired cliches I hate.

Shut up, Franklin, you don't know what you're talking about.

Get away from me.

you're scaring me.

why do you smell like that?

Do you eat nothing but meat and cheese?

Why are your hands always in your pants.

Don't ever ever EVER touch me!