If you are a writer, I implore you, please, stop using these terms:
SLAIN
"The mother of a 15-year-old Chicago girl slain a week after performing at President Barack Obama’s inauguration is appearing in a new gun control public service announcement..."
Killed. Murdered. What's wrong with those words? Who says "slain"? This is one of the biggest problems in TV news writing today -- using words and phrases that are not in common usage. Nobody says "slain" because it's not in common speech.
ALL EYES
"All eyes are on President Obama..."
"All eyes will be on Congress this week..."
No. No they're not. Not even 99.9% of all eyes are on anything at any given time, ever. Do you even know what this stupid cliche means? "All eyes" could be the gaze of all living persons, or all organisms with eyes, which would amount to hundreds of trillions of eyes. I'm being somewhat facitious here, but this is a stupid catch-phrase that should be retired forever.
MOTORIST
"A motorist suffered serious injuries early Saturday in a solo-vehicle crash..."
What, exactly, is a motorist? Is that someone who drives a motor-car, or, dare I say, an automobile? Would that specifically be one driving a motor-car on a motorway? Leave this stupid word back in the pre-war 20th Century where it belongs. Ask 100 people on the street what you call a person who is behind the wheel of a moving vehicle, and 99 of them will say "driver". NO ONE SAYS MOTORIST EXCEPT LAZY JOURNALISTS. STOP IT.
PICKING UP THE PIECES
"Residents are picking up the pieces after yesterday's tornado..."
Good gravy, I HATE this one. Yes, they are literally picking up pieces of things after disasters. SO WHAT. Find another way to say it. GAWD
I'll throw in more as I see / hear them. Thank you for your patronage.
READ THIS
In 1979, Congress deregulated the American airline industry; that year, there were 20 major airlines serving travelers in the U.S. By 1990, just 12 airlines remained. Today, following the U.S. Airways merger with American Airlines, there are only six carriers left; and there are now eight new travel routes served by just one airline. Suffice it to say, deregulation has been a disaster for consumers and a jackpot for corporations.
In Michigan, an African-American nurse is suing the hospital where she works, claiming the hospital agreed to a new father's request that no black nurses be allowed to care for his baby.
WATCH THIS
No embeddable video player available, but you gotta see this house explode as firefighters try to extinguish the flames of a fire.
