{"id":1039,"date":"2014-12-02T20:26:24","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T19:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/?p=1039"},"modified":"2014-12-02T20:26:24","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T19:26:24","slug":"hedging-our-bets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/?p=1039","title":{"rendered":"Hedging Our Bets"},"content":{"rendered":"
After deadline (NYT)<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

By\u00a0PHILIP\u00a0B.\u00a0CORBETT<\/div>\n
DECEMBER 2, 2014<\/h6>\n

My memory stretches for about 10 minutes. You may be able to remember details from decades ago. So what exactly does it mean if we say something is the first, biggest or worst \u201cin recent memory\u201d<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Probably not much. Yet we use that phrase constantly. What it probably suggests to readers is something like: \u201cWell, it seems as though it\u2019s been quite a while, but we\u2019re not exactly sure and we don\u2019t have time to look it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

In many cases, a bit more reporting or some help from our colleagues in research could pin down the precise time frame we need. In other cases, \u201crecently\u201d or \u201cin many years\u201d or \u201cin at least a decade\u201d or some other phrase might be better \u2014 and wouldn\u2019t depend on anyone\u2019s \u201cmemory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some recent unhelpful examples:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

The video included grisly footage of an assault on a Sinai checkpoint that killed more than 31 soldiers, the highest death toll among military personnel in recent memory.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Our researchers could presumably have pinpointed exactly when there was a deadlier attack. At a minimum we could determine that this was the highest toll \u201cin at least X years,\u201d or some such, rather than \u201cin recent memory.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Allergan is near a deal to sell itself to Actavis for more than $62.5 billion, people briefed on the matter said on Sunday, potentially ending one of the most bitter merger battles in recent memory<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, there\u2019s no objective standard for what constitutes a \u201cbitter\u201d battle. And there\u2019s no indication of what time frame counts as \u201crecent memory.\u201d And even so, we hedge by saying \u201cone of.\u201d All in all, this isn\u2019t much of a superlative. Maybe just say \u201ca bitter merger battle\u201d? Or avoid the \u201cbitter\u201d clich\u00e9 and find another description altogether?<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

The last handful of Smoke Sessions albums has been extraordinarily good, suggesting that the label has hit full stride. \u201cThe Original Mob,\u201d a reunion of the master drummer Jimmy Cobb with several former prot\u00e9g\u00e9s (Mr. Bernstein, Mr. Webber and the pianist Brad Mehldau), is not only Mr. Cobb\u2019s best album in recent memory<\/strong>, but also a hard-bop case study, a cogent argument against obsolescence.<\/em><\/p>\n

Presumably a serious fan could remember all of his albums. So is this his best, period? Or do we just mean \u201chis best recent album\u201d?<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Since 2007, Alabama has won three national titles and L.S.U has one. In 2011, No. 1 L.S.U. beat No. 2 Alabama, 9-6, in overtime in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in one of the most anticipated games in recent memory.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This is particularly awkward since it refers to \u201crecent memory\u201d predating the game, which itself was three years ago.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

It wouldn\u2019t have been even a tiny shock if that collaboration had set the tone for the night. By all rights, this should have been the rowdiest and most open-eared C.M.A. ceremony in recent memory<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here the point is further muddied, since the whole thing is hypothetical.<\/p>\n

And While We\u2019re Equivocating \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another vague and slightly weaselly word: \u201carguably.\u201d<\/strong> Like \u201cin recent memory,\u201d it suggests that we want to make a firm declaration but can\u2019t nail it down or just aren\u2019t really sure. So what\u2019s the point? If we need to qualify an assertion, let\u2019s give readers a better idea of what we actually feel comfortable saying.<\/p>\n

Some recent examples:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

But of all those with an interest in Kobani, there is arguably<\/strong> no party as invested as the fractious Kurdish diaspora, which has pulled together in the hope of creating a homeland among the rolling farms and pistachio orchards that are still technically part of Syria.<\/em><\/p>\n

If we need to be tentative, we could say \u201cfew parties are as invested\u201d or \u201cthere may be no party as invested.\u201d But this seems like an assertion we could have just made, on the basis of our reporting, without the \u201carguably\u201d dodge.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Last year at its annual gala, LaGuardia Community College, arguably<\/strong> the most ethnically diverse college in the country, honored Marilyn Skony Stamm, the chief executive of a global heating and air-conditioning business.<\/em><\/p>\n

There should be a way to measure this objectively, or at least some clear-cut statistic that would make the point without the \u201carguably\u201d caveat.<\/p>\n

The Double Hedge<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, if one caveat makes us feel safer, two provide even more security \u2014 and even less clarity for readers about what we are really reporting. For example:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople tend to learn science from somebody that takes them out and shows them cool things,\u201d says Claudia Alexander. Now the planetary scientist has experienced what\u2019s arguably one of the coolest things in recent memory:<\/strong> As a project scientist on the United States Rosetta Project, she is part of the team that put a spacecraft on a comet for the first time ever.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

The victories by Republicans on Tuesday were significant, but perhaps not the most momentous in recent memory.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

That prize arguably<\/strong> goes to the Republican class of 1994.<\/em><\/p>\n

In a Word<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week\u2019s grab bag of grammar, style and other missteps, compiled with help from colleagues and readers.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

In St. Louis, protesters shuttered<\/strong> Interstate 44 and marched along Grand Boulevard in the southern part of the city.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cShuttered,\u201d overused in any case, doesn\u2019t make any sense for closing a highway, which has no shutters. Just say \u201cclosed\u201d or \u201cblocked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Example 1:They are moves to attract more customers in the short run, but also hedges in a high-stakes gamble<\/strong> with the future of snow.<\/em><\/p>\n

Example 2:Of course, the stakes seem higher<\/strong> with doctors, and different laws govern the profession, but Tom Demont, president of ALOA Security Professionals, said his association receives about three or four complaints a week from consumers who say they were defrauded by unlicensed locksmiths, up from about one complaint every other month 15 years ago.<\/em><\/p>\n

Twice in one day for this tired clich\u00e9. Let\u2019s give it a rest.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

In agreeing to extend the existing interim agreement, Iran assured itself of a continuation of the sanctions relief that had brought it $700 million a month in money that had been frozen abroad \u2014 something that might well add to the threat of new sanctions from the newly-elected<\/strong> Republican Congress.<\/em><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t use a hyphen for compounds modifiers when the adverb ends in -ly.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

They know it all, except \u2014 oops! \u2014 whom<\/strong> their partner will be. But why let a small detail like that interfere with preparations?<\/em><\/p>\n

Make it who, not whom.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

\u201cEven I thought that was pretty cool,\u201d a normally nonplused<\/strong> Joe said after a peek at an animatronic dragon residing in the dungeon.<\/em><\/p>\n

A frequent misstep. \u201cNonplused\u201d means stupefied or bewildered. Here we meant almost the opposite, something like \u201cunfazed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

It would involve a regiment<\/strong> of \u201csafe\u201d and purposeful appearances, both at home and across the country.<\/em><\/p>\n

Presumably we meant \u201cregimen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Those unable to lay<\/strong> low enough found themselves paying steep fines for driving without a license. Or worse.<\/em><\/p>\n

A surprisingly common error. The verb we want is \u201clie\u201d; the expression is \u201clie low.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m having fun going through the old show in my mind and thinking about throwing in more ad-libs and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll like we did downtown,\u201d Mr. Mitchell said in a telephone interview, recalling the original runs of \u201cHedwig\u201d at the Westbeth Theater and Jane Street Theater, where he sometimes performedlaying<\/strong> on stage when he was tired or while he was in the bathroom offstage.<\/em><\/p>\n

And another. \u201cLying,\u201d not \u201claying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

The mayor and the cardinal have gabbed<\/strong> about baseball and discussed Michelangelo with 4-year-olds.<\/em><\/p>\n

The slang seems unnecessary.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Duke German, 50, a resident of Tabernacle, said that his son goes to school with one of the boys who lives at the house,<\/strong> and that the boy was not on the school bus on Thursday morning.<\/em><\/p>\n

Recorded announcement: Make it \u201cthe boys who live.\u201d Or, if we wanted to discuss just one boy, make it \u201cwith a boy who lives at the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

While the United States and Pakistan remain allies in the war on terrorism,tensions<\/strong> between the two countries have been frequently strained.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

That is the nature of tensions. Perhaps we meant \u201crelations\u201d have been strained, or tense.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

The extent<\/strong> of the group\u2019s links to Al Qaeda, though, have<\/strong> been a subject of fierce debate in Washington, where Republican critics have accused the Obama administration of trying to cover up a Qaeda role in the attack.<\/em><\/p>\n

Agreement problem. Make it \u201cextent \u2026 has been.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

In her interview with the local TV station in Florida, Ms. Serignese said thatafter meeting Mr. Cosby in the hotel gift shop, he invited her<\/strong> to watch the show, and she was given a front-row seat.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dangler. \u201cHe\u201d did not meet Mr. Cosby in the hotel gift shop. Make it \u201cMs. Serignese said that after she and Mr. Cosby met in the hotel gift shop, he invited her \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Mr. Hauchard appears to have followed a similar path as Mr. Dos Santos.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSimilar\u201d should be followed not by \u201cas\u201d but by \u201cto.\u201d Here, perhaps make it something like \u201ca path similar to that of Mr. Dos Santos.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Ms. Morales is well-liked<\/strong> on the show, and many of her supporters were upset that her post was suddenly threatened.<\/em><\/p>\n

No hyphen needed.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Besides Woods, others with guest turns have included the Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin, who took down Donald Sterling; and the Philadelphia 76ers\u2019 Michael Carter-Williams, who took on the news media, in general, and Stephen A. Smith, in particular (as if Smith, an ESPN personality, is representative<\/strong>of all media, a shaky premise on which to build any solid argument).<\/em><\/p>\n

The sentence is overstuffed and hard to read. Also, we needed the subjunctive, \u201cwere representative,\u201d in this contrary-to-fact condition.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Growing up in Burlington, Ontario, just outside Toronto, Heslip was not considered a cannot-miss<\/strong> star.<\/em><\/p>\n

We followed our normal guidance against contractions right out the window. The idiom is \u201ccan\u2019t-miss.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

He accused an upstate New York prosecutor, Steven A. Pagones, of being part of a group of white men whom<\/strong> he said had abducted and raped the teenager Tawana Brawley, an allegation that a grand jury report showed had been fabricated.<\/em><\/p>\n

Remove the phrase of attribution (\u201che said\u201d) and it becomes clearer that we wanted \u201cwho,\u201d not \u201cwhom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Now a grand jury on Staten Island has been hearing evidence on the 2009 campaign for months. One person subpoenaed to testify was Karen Scharff, the executive director of Citizens Action, an organization that advocates on education, justice and health issues.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In careful usage, \u201cadvocate\u201d is a transitive verb and is not followed by a preposition. Here, we could have said \u201cconcentrates on\u201d or \u201cfocuses on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

UNITED NATIONS \u2014 The United Nations\u2019 top human rights official called on the Muslim world to denounce the \u201cmonstrous\u201d crimes of the extremist group that seeks to establish an Islamic state in Iraq and Syria, calling its actions both a violation of international law and Islamic tenets.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Not parallel. Make it \u201ca violation of both international law and Islamic tenets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

The uproar stems not from a desire by people here to smoke \u2014 only 17 percent do (a smidge<\/strong> higher than the statewide average).<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSmidge\u201d seems both too colloquial and too vague for this news context.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

He continues to do so, but he says he has arthritis in his spine and cannot move like he used to.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Make it \u201cmove the way he used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Indian cities are already the world\u2019s most polluted, with Delhi\u2019s air almost three times more toxic<\/strong> than Beijing\u2019s by one crucial measure.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Times\u2019s stylebook says this:<\/p>\n

times less, times more.<\/strong> Writers who speak of three times more<\/em> or three times faster<\/em> often mean \u201cmultiplied by 3,\u201d but precise readers are likely to understand the meaning as \u201cmultiplied by 4\u2033: the original quantity or speed, plus three more times<\/em>. For clarity, avoid times more, times faster, times bigger<\/em>, etc. Write four times as much<\/em> (or as fast<\/em>, etc.). And do not write times less<\/em> or times smaller<\/em> (or things liketimes as thin<\/em> or times as short<\/em>). A quantity can decrease<\/em> only one time before disappearing, and then there is nothing left to decrease further. Make it one-third as much<\/em> (or as tall<\/em>, or as fast<\/em>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

He has upset residents in the capital, where he has never been that<\/strong> popular, by praising Russian and Chinese leaders and by feeding a stubborn nostalgia among many Czechs about the Communist days.<\/em><\/p>\n

This use of \u201cthat\u201d is informal and seems out of place in a straight news context.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

The puppies are Molly and Troy, who are more or less Pomerian<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPomeranian,\u201d of course.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not exactly the von Trapps trilling about edelweiss, but the Robertson family of the reality series \u201cDuck Dynasty\u201d wants to sing to you about faith and food, duck calls and swamp moss. And they\u2019ve convinced<\/strong> a team from Broadway to bring their story to the stage, in Las Vegas for starters.<\/em><\/p>\n

The stylebook says this:<\/p>\n

convince, persuade.<\/strong> Convince<\/em> should be followed by an of<\/em> phrase or a that<\/em>clause: She convinced the teacher of her ability<\/em>; She convinced her sister that it was too late<\/em>. But convince<\/em> cannot be followed by a to<\/em> phrase; in such a case,persuade<\/em> is required: He persuaded his sister to take the day off<\/em>. (Persuade<\/em> is more versatile than convince<\/em>, and can be followed by any of the three constructions.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After deadline (NYT)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,13,57],"tags":[139,172,109],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}