A plain language guide to grammar, punctuation and writing well
I don’t often throw things at the radio when BBC journo Nick Robinson is on – but missiles were launched this morning (including a complaint via email) when he described a dead female refugee as ‘beautiful’. What?? Here’s what he said on the BBC’s flagship news programme: “The photograph of a beautiful young woman stares… Continue reading A beautiful dead woman
A recent BBC news story about pop star Dua Lipa's Twitter activities included the following: "The BBC has reached out to her management for comment." This is just horrible. And it's an easy one to put right: don't write 'reached out to' when you mean 'asked'. The BBC later changed its version to read 'has… Continue reading A quick word … don’t reach out
This is a re-post from the BBC news website. "Don't worry, you'll do well because you're BAME, BAME is the new trend. Everyone is looking for a BAME actor to add to their books." When 24-year-old Nicole Miners first heard the term - which stands for black, Asian and minority ethnic - she was at… Continue reading BBC: ‘Don’t call me BAME’: Why some people are rejecting the term
The other day, while *cough* accidentally reading an article in the Guardian about the X Factor (a TV competition for wannabee singers that I never watch except for sometimes every week), I noticed that the comments thread had segued into a discussion about spelling and punctuation.
Ensorcelled? Really? Why send your readers away (probably never to return) to consult a dictionary when 'enchanted' or 'fascinated' would work just as well (probably better) in this case?
That noise is an alarm going off. The Wordwatch Towers butler just checked and has confirmed it’s the ‘women being undermined via descriptions of the animal kingdom to avoid accusations of blatant sexism’ alarm. Thought so.
We shouldn’t feel the need to place people in neatly labelled boxes; their individual identity is not defined by a diagnosis. And it should be noted that Derek’s identity as portrayed by Gervais is anything but vague.
Tellingly, none of the other characters portrayed in the programme have been criticised by TV critics for not having been assigned a label. Even though none of them have one.
Wordwatch Towers 