News, Opinion, and the Faded Line

 

I subscribe to The Washington Post online edition.  They keep my inbox filled with the latest news and opinions; or as one might accurately say, opinions and opinions.  But I digress.

This direct from the evening edition, June 2, 2016:

The petty things that people shot each over last month

Average Americans routinely shoot each other over minor annoyances, data show.

	One has to wonder how many things an "elite" news source can get wrong in two lines.  The elision of the word "other" in the bold-type headline we can chalk up to typo, i.e., careless error.  But look at the sub-line as an illustration of my "opinion or opinion" shot above.  Ostensibly (just from this slug line) the news is that someone compiled data on shootings in America which found that some (many?) shootings are over "minor annoyances."	The clear thrust of the line is that it is the opinion of the writer and, by extension, the publisher that "Average Americans routinely shoot each other."  Parsing that a bit further, it is the opinion of the WaPo that Average Americans are the perpetrators of shootings in our country, but more they engage in such crimes on a routine basis.	Am I the only person who sees anything wrong with this?  Journalists are often the target of politicians.  As the supposed guardians of truth, the vaunted "Fourth Estate" that will serve to keep us informed and free, it is natural that politicians and journalists will come into conflict.  But I fear that in the moral climate of the day it is a toss-up as to which group deserves our respect.  Full disclosure:  Upon the completion of this diatribe I read the article itself.  It was headed by a full-color photograph of a handgun and several hollow-point bullets lying on a table.  The story itself was pretty much what I expected.  Clicking on the bold line above will take you there.

The Singular "They"

Bill Walsh, Keeper of the Style Book at the Washington Post explains why he has dropped the hyphen in "Walmart" and in "email," and why "mic" is now a word, pronounced with a long "i" contrary to all good sense.  His article is quite interesting and if you are a language maven, a must-read.  See it here.

I am quite comfortable with dropping the hyphen in Walmart and in email.  If fact, l had done so in my writing some time back.  I dislike reaching up for the hyphen anyway, and I always have to pause to look.

Eventually, though, Mr. Walsh* gets to the issue of the singular "they."  He has finally chosen to adopt this ragged and smelly urchin, though it seems somewhat against his own better judgment.  I draw the line here.  I shall continue to use the generic "he" in my speech and in my writing.  I'm eighty-one.  Laugh if you will, whippersnapper, but someone has to maintain a degree of respect for those English teachers who have gone on before.  Let it be me.

If anyone is annoyed with the archaic usage, I hope he will grit his teeth and move on, which is what I shall do in future when I encounter the singular "they."  If on the other hand there is one who is offended, or worse outraged by my choice, to him I say, "Get a life."

*Here Mr. Walsh, following his own style book, would have written "Walsh," dropping the honorific.  Excuse the respect, Sir.