You schmucks who use ridiculous journo-terms make me crazy! Finally, someone is willing to speak out against the use of "lede" in public. Because, ha ha, sucka, there's no reason for it! (Plus, MOST OF YOU ARE JUST BLOGGERS.) So: "'Lede’ is an invention of linotype romanticists, not something used in newsrooms of the linotype era," writes Howard Owens. Great, that's settled. (Also there are still bloggers who file stories with "#30#" or some variant thereof. GUESS WHAT? I know your story ends there, because the Microsoft Word or Google Doc ENDS THERE TOO.) Now, what really gets my goat is New York Times editors who use [...]

Oh, Mexico! It's "a land so rich in slang and wordplay (much of it salty but freely used) that a newcomer armed with book-learned Spanish might feel he had studied for the wrong test." HAHA RIGHT? UNLIKE FRANCE OR RUSSIA OR CHINA. (Whoops, sorry.) Anyway! Thus begins what is a phenomenally dim little piece in the Los Angeles Times this week. Salty! Freely used! Unlike in New York City or London, where in our fine English language we never speak in slang. (What would that trashy Charles Dickens make of this? Hell, what would Evelyn Waugh say?) Here's the deal: nearly all other Spanish-speaking people hate both Mexican [...]

Roger Ebert came out of the A.A. closet last week, with a long and fascinating essay about his experience in A.A. Lots of people loved it, and found it pretty educational. But what are the negative repercussions of this, asked some in the comments-as A.A. has no public spokespeople and it asks that media outlets keep members private and also (mildly) asks that members don't represent the organization publicly. (It seems like a fine point-but how well can an alcoholism treatment program be perceived if its spokespeople later kill people whilst driving drunk, say?) Of course, it's unlikely that Ebert will give people a bad impression of A.A., [...]