In last week’s news meeting question, inspired by a list of forbidden words from Kurt Andersen’s days as editor of The New York Times Magazine New York, we asked you to help us make our own list of stale and lazy phrases that you’re tired of seeing and hearing from news outlets. Looking at the comment section, we’ve got a pretty good collection going; here’s what you’ve sent in so far:
Transparency
Strongman
Cutting edge
World Wide Web
Game changer
Robust
Love child
Illegitimate
“Adult conversation”
Iconic
Paradigm
Canoodling
Traffic metaphors (crossroads, juncture, intersection, turning point)
“-gate”
Brutal murder
Savage beating
Vicious attack
Deadly tornado
Destructive tornado
Bete noire
At the end of the day
Street smarts
Endeavor
Persevere
Regime
Going forward
Substantive (rather than Substantial)
The other side of the aisle / Both sides of the aisle
To be honest
Quite frankly
Mom (rather than Mother), and “Mom jeans”
Lawmaker
Tipping Point
Going Forward
Bloviate
Underwater
Impact (when used as a verb)
Walking something back
Throw under a bus
(Feel free to keep adding to the list, here.)
Correction: This article originally stated that the “words we don’t say” list dated back to Kurt Andersen’s days as editor of The New York Times Magazine. Andersen never edited that magazine. We meant to say that it dated back to his days as editor of New York. The relevant sentence has been fixed. CJR regrets the error.
The Editors are the staffers of the Columbia Journalism Review.