Merrill Perlman : Author Archive : CJR

Columbia Journalism Review; Strong Press, Strong Democracy

Author Archive

Articles by Merrill Perlman | Email the Author

Language Corner

That’s that, part one
May 22, 2012 06:50 AM
“President Obama said Wednesday he would go to Europe.” Is Wednesday the day he is going to Europe? Or the day he announced his travel plans? A little word can make that sentence clearer: “that.” But its placement can make... Continue reading
Language Corner

Logue jam
May 16, 2012 06:50 AM
“Catalogue” can also be spelled “catalog.” “Dialogue” can also be spelled “dialog.” But “monologue” is rarely spelled “monolog.” The Americans are at it again. The combining form “logue” is French, descended from Latin, and it indicates an engagement of some... Continue reading
Language Corner

No fun
May 9, 2012 12:00 PM
The journalism professor was not having much “fun” explaining things to her feature-writing students: “I know so fun is wrong but I can’t tell them why,” she wrote. “So happy is right, but so fun should have ‘much’ as the... Continue reading
Language Corner

Organically Grown
May 1, 2012 10:49 AM
Language evolves. New words and concepts show up and catch on—“app,” “smartphone,” “podcast”—or die from disuse or dysfunction—“Y2K,” “newsreel,” “rad.” And there’s even a word for how these concepts make their way from person to person: “meme.” Rhyming with “cream,”... Continue reading
Language Corner

Climate Change
April 23, 2012 12:57 PM
An extension of a federal highway program passed the House recently, over the objections of some Democrats. “Even as they were approving the measure in an anti-climatic voice vote, Democrats sharply criticized Republicans for not accepting a two-year, $109 billion... Continue reading
Language Corner

Viva La Difference
April 17, 2012 04:27 PM
Am I “different than” you? Or “different from ” you? And does it matter? “Different than is often considered inferior to different from,” Garner’s Modern American Usage says. We certainly don’t want to be inferior. It’s because the word “different”... Continue reading
Language Corner

Locution, Locution, Locution
April 9, 2012 03:54 PM
The Internet offers writers unlimited space and so, for many, their writing expands expansively. Readers, however, have limited attention spans. So here are a few circumlocutions, or wordy phrases, that seem particularly ascendant. (Consider this a supplement to our... Continue reading
Language Corner

Flat Out
April 4, 2012 06:00 AM
The gunman was “lying prone on his stomach.” He could have just been “prone,” and the writer could have saved four words for more drama. “Prone” means lying flat, with your face toward the ground. If you’re face up, you’re... Continue reading
Language Corner

Not Just Desserts
April 2, 2012 01:29 PM
The good times were back on Wall Street, the news report said. Executives of a banking firm were staying at “some luxury digs in New Delhi.” But, the report added, “This is not a pure junket, to be sure.” The... Continue reading
Language Corner

Madison Square Gardening
March 26, 2012 01:13 PM
It’s spring, and a young man’s fancy turns to … seeds. “Seeding” is a way of creating a tournament “draw” that is not random. A random draw might pit the best players or teams too early, so that many... Continue reading
Language Corner

Beggars Can Be Choosers
March 19, 2012 03:03 PM
Every so often it’s important to revisit an issue, to clarify or modify it, depending on the circumstances. It “begs the question” whether revisiting something is needed. After all, revisiting is important, because it allows revisiting, which is important. And... Continue reading
Language Corner

Jibe Talking
March 12, 2012 11:59 AM
“Alas, poore Yorick,” Shakespeare wrote. “Where be your gibes now?” Or, depending on your edition of Hamlet, perhaps he wrote “Where be your jibes now?” But he most certainly did not write “Where be your jives now?” Come with... Continue reading
Language Corner

@#?
March 5, 2012 01:04 PM
BREAKING: Palm Beach Sheriffs Office tells @SusanCandiotti that the bomb squad is investigating a suspicious pkg near #Rush #Limbaugh home How would you quote that tweet, sent last week? As it was tweeted? Or would you write “The Palm Beach... Continue reading
Language Corner

Media Rare
February 27, 2012 12:07 PM
Last week, a post at the Poynter Institute took a strong stand: “It’s time for copy editors to loosen the cardigan when it comes to ‘media,’” Andrew Beaujon wrote. He said he felt “like a tool writing ‘The... Continue reading
Language Corner

Cardinal Sins
February 21, 2012 02:50 PM
In ceremonies filled with pomp, twenty-two men were named cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church, including two from the United States: Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York and Edwin O’Brien, emeritus archbishop of Baltimore and now the Grand... Continue reading
Language Corner

Silent Knight
February 13, 2012 03:14 PM
For The Electric Company, Tom Lehrer wrote a song to which all writers should listen: Who can turn a can into a cane? / Who can turn a pan into a pane? / It’s not too hard to... Continue reading
Language Corner

Addressee Unknown
February 6, 2012 05:52 PM
The Super Bowl is over, thank heavens, so all those incorrectly punctuated signs rooting for one team or another can come down. You know the ones: They say “Go Giants” or “Go Patriots.” In telling the Giants (or Patriots—no partisanship... Continue reading
Language Corner

Houses of Straw
January 30, 2012 12:20 PM
Though we’re thick in the primary and caucus season, the testing of the political winds actually began months ago, with several “straw polls.” Thought to come from the farm practice of tossing a few shreds of straw into the air... Continue reading
Language Corner

The Jury is in
January 27, 2012 06:00 AM
An article about a rundown neighborhood said that “most of the buildings are jerry-rigged structures of corrugated aluminum.” Another article said that a company had “jury-rigged the aircraft with a missile in a demonstration flight.” A third said that “the... Continue reading
Language Corner

Confidence Trick
January 24, 2012 11:51 AM
In an episode of Dragnet from the late nineteen-sixties, Joe Friday is assigned to the “bunco squad,” where he and his partner, Bill Gannon, bust a woman running a “Ponzi scheme.” We’re all too familiar with what a “Ponzi... Continue reading

—advertisement—

Desks

The Audit Business

The Observatory Science

Campaign Desk Politics & Policy

Behind the News The Media

Receive a FREE Issue

of Columbia Journalism Review

If you like the magazine, get the rest of the year for just $19.95 (6 issues in all).
If not, simply write cancel on the bill and return it. You will owe nothing.