A colleague noted six uses of the description \u201cdeep-pocketed\u201d in our copy in a single week not long ago. There were four more appearances during another recent week: \u201cdeep-pocketed investors,\u201d \u201cdeep-pocketed donors\u201d and \u201cdeep-pocketed tobacco companies\u201d (twice).<\/p>\n
A quick check of our archives suggests a spike in \u201cdeep-pocketed\u201d in the last two presidential election years, probably owing to the ubiquity of those \u201cdeep-pocketed donors.\u201d<\/p>\n
At one time, \u201cdeep-pocketed\u201d may have seemed like a fresh and clever alternative to \u201cwealthy.\u201d That was probably quite a while ago. Next time the phrase arises, let\u2019s consider whether \u201cwealthy\u201d or \u201crich\u201d might serve just as well \u2014 or whether any modifier is needed at all.
\nMore From the Clich\u00e9 Watch<\/p>\n
Our colleagues at The Washington Post\u2019s Outlook section keep a running list of overused words and phrases that they try to eliminate from their copy. It includes some examples that would be very familiar to Times readers \u2014 \u201cunderscores,\u201d \u201cnarrative,\u201d \u201crare window\u201d \u2014 though \u201cdeep-pocketed\u201d hasn\u2019t yet made the list.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s another nominee for our think-twice-then-delete-it list: \u201cwatering hole.\u201d This dated colloquialism, referring to a bar, appears dozens of times a year in our pages.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatering hole\u201d does make occasional appearances in the Science section in its unobjectionable original sense \u2014 the place where the zebras gather for a drink, and the lions sneak up to eat them. Let\u2019s see if we can confine it to the savanna for a while, and call a bar a bar.
\nIn a Word<\/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
Opened in 1895, the first public golf tournament in the country was held there, and the Edwardian locker room was once a postgame hangout for Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson and the Three Stooges.<\/p>\n
A dangler. \u201cOpened in 1895\u201d refers to the club, not the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
But a more moderate Republican presidential candidate, like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, would struggle to win Southern primaries, where many voters adhere to conservative orthodoxy.<\/p>\n
The Times\u2019s stylebook, in the \u201ctitles\u201d entry, says this:<\/p>\n
In identifying officials of cities, states or countries, do not make the place name part of the title: Mayor Stacy K. Bildots of Chicago, not Chicago Mayor Stacy K. Bildots.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
By rerouting walkways, tourists will no longer trample meandering 200-foot shallow roots, and by removing the road, the diversion of water from the trees will come to a halt.<\/p>\n
The gerunds \u201crerouting\u201d and \u201cremoving\u201d are danglers. (Tourists aren\u2019t rerouting the walkways, and the diversion of water isn\u2019t removing the road.)<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
Despite strong dislike of President Obama\u2019s handling of health care, a majority of people in three Southern states \u2014 Kentucky, Louisiana and North Carolina \u2014 would rather that Congress improve his signature health care law than repeal and replace it, according to a New York Times Upshot\/Kaiser Family Foundation poll.<\/p>\n
No need for \u201cthat\u201d after \u201crather\u201d in this comparison.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
Steven C. LaTourette, a Republican former congressman from Ohio who is close to Mr. Boehner, said the speaker\u2019s comments meant he was ready to either push forward on immigration or was preparing for retirement.<\/p>\n
What comes after \u201cor\u201d should be parallel to what comes after \u201ceither.\u201d We could have said \u201che was either ready to push forward \u2026 or preparing for retirement.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
Neither Dr. Pianta nor the Curry School have received funding from Walton.<\/p>\n
Neither \u201chas\u201d received funding.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
Directors of Sotheby\u2019s gathered in their wood-paneled boardroom with an urgent goal: how to mollify Daniel S. Loeb, the outspoken hedge fund mogul who is the auction house\u2019s largest shareholder.<\/p>\n
The goal was \u201cto mollify,\u201d not \u201chow to mollify.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
If it were indeed a test, he played as if he had all the answers.<\/p>\n
This is not a contrary-to-fact condition requiring a subjunctive (note the lack of a conditional \u201cwould\u201d in the next clause). Just say \u201cIf it was indeed a test, he played \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
Few players understand how to execute complex defensive schemes like Garnett, and his communication and leadership from the back line will be vital.<\/p>\n
The preposition \u201clike\u201d seems to suggest we are comparing the defensive schemes to Garnett. Make it \u201cthe way Garnett does\u201d or \u201cas well as Garnett.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
One of the things that makes the Pacers so good is the smothering interior defense of Roy Hibbert.<\/p>\n
Recorded announcement: Make it \u201cmake\u201d \u2014 \u201cthings that make the Pacers so good \u2026\u201d The relative clause describes all the \u201cthings,\u201d of which we offer one example. Or, if we want to focus on just this one thing, simply say, \u201cOne thing that makes the Pacers so good is \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a wink toward one of the things that makes this venerable ensemble special: cellist aside, its members stand, rather than sit.<\/p>\n
Ditto. Also, \u201ccellist\u201d should be capitalized because what follows the colon is a complete sentence.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
Mr. Piketty\u2019s publisher, Harvard University Press, plainly caught off-guard, scurried to meet the demand.<\/p>\n
Our dictionary uses no hyphen in this phrase.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
The extraordinary worldwide attention paid to the death of Gabriel Garc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez, and the genuine sorrow felt by readers everywhere at his passing, tells us that the books are still very much alive.<\/p>\n
This plural subject \u2014 attention and sorrow \u2014 requires a plural verb: tell.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
Under his leadership, he said, the museum has not only dived more energetically into contemporary art but has also broadened its overall focus to include more Latin American and non-Western art and more work by women (critics say it still has a long ways to go).<\/p>\n
\u201cWays\u201d is colloquial in this expression; make it \u201ca long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
In some senses, the case is as big of a deal as the Betamax ruling in 1984, which allowed consumers to record programming.<\/p>\n
There should be no \u201cof\u201d in this construction. Make it \u201cas big a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
For most of his long and very public life as a philanthropist, William E. Rapfogel has been surrounded by powerful friends and politicians, chief among them Sheldon Silver, the New York State Assembly speaker.<\/p>\n
A philanthropist is someone who gives money to charitable causes. Rapfogel was the chief executive of a charitable organization, so something like \u201ccharity director\u201d would be more precise.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
The possibility that some New York cities will get less federal dollars because of declining populations has prompted the New York senator to preserve a carve-out.<\/p>\n
Fewer federal dollars, or less federal money.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
But the viability of those networks are based on decades of public investments in the Internet, the companies\u2019 use of public rights of way and, in the case of some companies, a long government-sanctioned monopoly over telephone service.<\/p>\n
Agreement problem. Make it \u201cviability \u2026 is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
When the Atlanta wine collector Julian LeCraw Jr. spent $91,400 on a single bottle in 2006, he was convinced that the 1787 vintage from the renowned Chateau d\u2019Yquem in France was worth the lofty price, then the highest ever for a white wine.<\/p>\n
Make it \u201cCh\u00e2teau.\u201d The stylebook wants the accent mark in a French name.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
Even after this week\u2019s plunge, Amazon\u2019s shares remain expensive by most measures. It\u2019s price-to-earnings ratio was still over 500.<\/p>\n
Ouch. \u201cIts,\u201d of course.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
[Home page summary] \u201cHedwig and the Angry Inch,\u201d about a transgendered performer with issues, stars Neil Patrick Harris in the title role.<\/p>\n
The stylebook entry calls for \u201ctransgender.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A colleague noted six uses of the description \u201cdeep-pocketed\u201d in our copy in a single week not long ago. There were four more appearances during another recent week: \u201cdeep-pocketed investors,\u201d \u201cdeep-pocketed donors\u201d and \u201cdeep-pocketed tobacco companies\u201d (twice).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9,2,13,65],"tags":[172,109,5],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890"}],"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=890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890\/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=890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesusromerotrillo.es\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}