Please excuse my protracted absence.
It’s not from a lack of writing. Quite the opposite. Plenty of words have been accumulating over here. Behind closed doors there has been a frenzy of note scribbling, sessions of brainstorming, and even a weekend course, thanks to Writers Victoria in Melbourne, and the marvelous Kathryn Heyman.
I have yellow Post-It notes all over my kitchen walls and storyboards pasted to my wardrobe door. Which means the latest story is brewing, but it’s only up to the first half of a first draft. So, no breath holding necessary yet. This one is still being carefully mixed, and needs baking to perfection, but I’m hoping it’ll be worth all the effort in the end.
When it comes to the actual craft, I love the beauty that can be conveyed with language, and all of the nuances of the spoken word. I can get quite tetchy when I hear words being used and abused, and lazy writing just pushes my literary buttons. One of the regulars these days has to be gotten. If you check that lovely papery thing (the dictionary) you’ll see it lists gotten as an archaic word – ie: no longer in use. Actually it says ‘archaic and US’. But really, even if you’re American, the word is got. It’s shorter, and easier to write, so why not use it?
I confess to being addicted to international news radio these days, particularly ABC’s 1026 AM, with its rich diversity of voices, and eclectic mix of accents reading the latest bulletins. However, even the ABC literary standards seem to be slipping. I’ve been surprised at the ever increasing range of grammatical irregularities, peculiar inflections, the mispronunciation and the mixed metaphors that repeatedly go-to-air unchallenged and uncorrected.
I recently sent my whinings to them via email, having been taken to the brink by a selection of words that seemed to be on-loop with a few of their newsreaders. I was disappointed to receive one of those robot produced, generic Do-Not-Reply emails thanking me for my feedback, and promising to address my concerns shortly via return email from a human being.
It was followed by a conspicuous email silence, and no change. I suspect my carefully scribed email was summarily deleted, or at best filed in the vault of Store and Forget.
So, in defense of some of those poor little words that simply deserve better, I’ve listed the most jarring examples. A few of them came from the sports desk, but others were even from the mouths of the more experienced journalists.
Real – this seems to be frequently used (and over used) when other words like actual/specific/very/valid would be more appropriate. (The real issue, the real problem, I have real concerns. The list is endless.)
Next-up, or Up-next – why isn’t something just next? Why add the up?
Début – from the French, débuter, and pronounced ‘day-b-yoo’ – NOT ‘duh-boo’ which I hear from the Sports desk until my ears bleed.
Repeat – this word should receive equal emphasis on each of the syllables, and is never ‘ree-peat’ (which I also heard on ABC television news the other day. Sacrilege. It’s almost as bad as saying you are in agreeance – which is not a word – instead of in agreement which is.)
Ultimately it was the mixed metaphors which finally tipped me over the edge. There have been several sports reports referring to the tension in the final minutes of the football as mouth watering. Do they intend to eat the players? I suspect the use of nail biting would be more apt.
Another good one was a science report, and the reference to a current discovery which had wet the whistle of the relevant Scientists. That phrase actually means, ‘to take a drink, or quench your thirst.’ It would be more accurate to say the discovery had whet their appetite given this indicates a sharpening in one’s interest for something.
My favourite of all was hearing the word mispronunciation mispronounced as mispronounciation. But I can’t be sure that one was on the ABC.
Being creative with words is not quite the same as taking liberties with language. Call me persnickety if you like, but when it comes to words, I just want to make sure all their precious little syllables are well-used, but not over-used. To mix a nice fruity metaphor compote of my own: I just want to have my bread buttered on both sides, and sleep in it.
Do what you will with that one.
Angela J Dawson 