Three Peeves in One Newspaper Article

Three Peeves in One Newspaper Article Three Peeves in One Newspaper Article Three Peeves in One Newspaper Article By Maeve Maddox Im one of the diminishing breed that wakes to a rolled newspaper at my front door. Sadly, I often find food for DWT posts when I open it. This morning not one, but three pet peeves leapt to my eye, all from the same story. I wont use real names. The article is about the sentencing of a man, Smith, who was an accessory to the murder of a teenager, Jones. Another man, Green, was tried separately. Green, the triggerman, has already been tried and sentenced†¦ The choice of the word triggerman bothers me because it is one of those words that has its place in fiction, but doesnt belong in a straight news story. Its use has the effect of glamorizing a punk who killed a 17 year old for $30 and a hat. It belongs to a category of dime novel words that strike me as being out of place in general reporting, detective yarn words like heist, bust, and swag. The two [Smith and the triggerman] were suppose to give Jones a ride to his home. They were supposed to give Jones a ride. Two females went along also†¦ The use female as a noun outside a medical or natural history context always bothers me. Ive written about these particular peeves elsewhere on the DWT site: Inappropriate word choice to report on crime Use of -ed verb forms Non-technical use of female as a noun Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Possessive of Proper Names Ending in SDoes "Mr" Take a Period?Honorary vs. Honourary