By Bob Yearick
Media Watch
• Sportscaster and radio personality Dan Patrick recently reported that he is “not beholding to anyone.” The word is beholden. Dan also has the maddening habit of using text as the past tense of text. E.g., “He text me yesterday.” It’s texted!
• Reader Mike Reilly found this in The Hunt magazine: “. . . there is some personal cache in living in a house that has a historic past.” Cache (pronounced “cash”) refers to hidden items or computer memory, while cachet (pronounced “cash-ay,” and the word needed here) signifies prestige, status, or an official seal.
• No fewer than three readers alerted me to this headline from The News Journal: “Politicians who have ran into legal trouble in the last decade.” Have run is the correct verb here.
• Larry Hamermesh caught this in a TNJ story by Xerxes Wilson: “The status of those protection from abuse orders are unclear.” Subject of the sentence is status, so the verb should be is.
• File these last two under “Homophones Can Be Confusing”:
1. Amber Phillips, in The Washington Post, courtesy of reader Jane Buck: “El-Sayed has reigned in some of his more liberal views, . . .” Abdul El-Sayed hopes to reign as a U.S. Senator from Michigan, but in the meantime, he is reining in some of his liberal views.
2. Midwestern correspondent Cathy Marchand submits this subhead from The Minnesota Star Tribune: “Once considered pests that were shot on site, bears’ game status boosts population, funds research.” The writer should have chosen sight.
Department of Redundancies Dept.
• Olivia Reiner, in The Philadelphia Inquirer: “[Edge rusher Jalyx] Hunt is learning from his fellow Eagles teammates on defense . . .”
• Duke football coach Manny Diaz, speaking of his top two quarterbacks: “Both guys have a different set of skill sets that we can frame our offense around.” The abominable “skill set,” introduced by the sports world many years ago, is bad enough, but Manny had to add that extra set. “Both guys have different skills” would’ve worked just fine.
• Gina Mizell, in The Inky: “LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe have bonded together to create a group president of basketball Mike Gansey even dubbed as a ‘Big 5.’” I’m thankful they didn’t bond apart. Also, no need for “as a” after “dubbed.”
• Kevin Long, Phillies batting coach, speaking of Bryce Harper, as quoted in The Philadelphia Inquirer: “But now he’s back to where he’s making a conscious effort to make sure he’s taking what the pitcher gives him.” Suggested edit: He’s trying to take what the pitcher gives him.
Yes, it is that Big of a Deal
The “extraneous of” falls somewhere around 15 or 16 in my list of pet peeves. It makes the speaker or writer sound a bit crude, but alas, it is rampant. Two recent examples:
• Kevin Long, from the interview cited above: “That’s something he would do last year, the last two and a half, two years, where it really wouldn’t be that big of a deal.”
• Lochlan March, also in The Inky, writing about Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez’s pursuit of the triple crown: “Mattingly knows firsthand how difficult of an accomplishment that would be.”
On the other hand, sometimes of needs to be inserted. Take this example from Dugan Arnett, writing in The Inky about nearly 30 dead dogfish sharks found on a Sea Isle City beach: “‘The first couple shark corpses weren’t particularly surprising,’ she said.” Conversationally, this is acceptable, but journalists should use “couple” to refer to two, and “a couple of” in reference to roughly two or three, or a few.
Literally of the Month
On ESPN, Paul Finebaum went a bit overboard with this: “The Ole Miss quarterback literally put the team on his back last season.” Now, that’s a heavy load.
Erratum – Sort of
Reader Susan Kaye begs to differ with my claim that shucking should be associated only with oysters, while husking is reserved for ears of corn. She cites two dictionaries that define “shuck” as “the outer covering of a nut or of an ear of corn; the shell of an oyster or clam,” and “shucking” means “to remove the husk or shell.” “Therefore,” Susan Says, “one can certainly either husk or shuck corn.”
Point taken. However, shucking is the preferred word for clams, while husking is almost always used with corn.
Word of the Month
Defenestrate
Pronounced dee-fen-es-traat, it’s a verb meaning to throw (someone) out of a window.
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