We can all learn new words each day
In my Norman City Council meeting advance story this week, I used a word that got the attention of a few readers.
It referred to an agenda issue as the penultimate item on the council’s list. That sent a few readers to dictionaries to learn that it means next to last.
It’s a word that became popular with the Associated Press’ wire service. An advisory or editor’s note on an AP story would often make reference to something in the penultimate graph.
Back in my college newspaper adviser days, I sent the students my daily comments on their product each day. I tried to add a “word of the day” for them. It’s been nearly 20 years but some of them still remind me of that daily lesson.
Journalism schools often teach newspaper reporters they should write to an eighth grade audience. I’ve never seen the wisdom of that. People committed enough to engage in their communities and read a newspaper want to be challenged.
So, if my reporters throw in a few penultimates in with their hemorrhages and methamphetamines, so be it. There’s nothing wrong with learning a new something new each day.
Andy Rieger
kenestral
Hannah Rieger
D, W
stdavis
Orville
September 24th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Andy,
If you could convince the education system to once again teach young folks the language, and its use, by diagramming sentences, you’ll be making some progress.
When and why did that methodology go by the wayside? Perhaps when we decided that true communication had nothing to do with sentence structure, spelling, punctuation and the like. So long as your writing, or utterance, was understood, the rest was unimportant.
I quit correcting the notes from the teachers, and sending them back, when my wife explained that she would leave me if it continued. I wasn’t convinced until she told me I got to keep the kids.
Well, a word a day is a start. Let’s start with “grammar”. We once had Grammar School. Then we just had Grammar. Now we ain’t even got that.
December 30th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
ur so ol fashunned