Journalism Blog

But of Many Jokes

If you think your teacher is a tough editor, try working with one that will not let you use the word 'but'. Read the whole story here.

The Rhetorical "But" of the News

A capricious editor-in-chief I once worked for, who fancied himself an English usage expert along the lines of Eric Partridge, once banished the word "but" from all news leads at his global wire service.

Reading the word gave him "whiplash," he complained, and so decreed the word gone from all wire copy. It was pathetic and funny, like declaring oneself utterly finished with the letter "q." Yet the editor was right on two points. First, the word "but" is used ubiquitously in news leads. And second, it does induce whiplash.

What he missed was, the whiplash is just the point. Readers like a little whiplash in their leads. It wakes them up, like a splash of cold water. It's a cheap thrill, a physical jolt that's felt as one belief is replaced by another.

More to the point, the "but" construction is the most common story set-up in journalism, so it can't be replaced without changing journalism itself.

posted by Dave @ 3:20 PM