Thursday, May 13, 2004
 
"So-Called" Watch

This damn cheap verbal construction sticks in my craw and wiggles and twists. I don't care to hear this abomination spoken (and I have one friend who applies it to his conversations like barbecue sauce on over-cooked hamburgers), and I find it disreputable when professional writers use it in things for which they were paid.

Current offenders:
  • Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times:

      Conservative commentators who seized on this tragedy to complain that the so-called liberal media was more interested in abused Iraqi prisoners than a murdered American civilian are either lying or stupid.


  • Sara Shipley, St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

      The Howard Bend Levee District is nearly finished with a $25 million upgrade designed to protect against a so-called 500-year flood, or one that has a 1 in 500 chance of happening in any given year.
Face it, "so-called" is the "alleged" without the elegance and without, you know, actual allegations. So-called is the drop-in equivalent of an "authorities say" asterisk in a headline, a written sneer that would be denied if someone questioned a speaker who added the equivalent tone of voice. It's making air-quotes with the English language, and it deserves all the mockery we can summon.

I'm almost tempted to start a "So-Called Watch" blog, but given the underwhelming popularity of Pop-Up Mocker, I think not.

- posted by Brian J. @ 7:36 PM
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To say Noggle, one first must be able to say the "Nah."