Phrase rendered meaningless by chronic overuse in newspaper stories, Vol. 463
By William M. Hartnett on Jun 23, 2007 in newspapers, whinging
Hartnett completists will recall that the previous phrase in this series was “to be sure.” Surprisingly, given my vast influence in the linguistic community, “to be sure” remains in frequent use by newspaper and magazine writers in search of just the right combination of words to signal to readers that the story they’re reading is both incredibly boring and far, far too long.
The latest entry in the never-ending series of things that annoy me is the phrase “in a wide-ranging interview.” My rule guiding the use of “in a wide-ranging interview” goes something like this: Unless your interview included discussions of the scientific inquires of Benjamin Franklin, contemporary Chinese currency policy, the current season of Hell’s Kitchen, the poetry of 19th-century Jesuit priest Gerald Manley Hopkins and the work of early Renaissance painters, it was not terribly wide-ranging. If, as I suspect, the interview was, in fact, mostly about the mayor’s budget proposal or a local politician’s run for the state legislature, please describe it simply as an “interview.”
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