The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Broadcast Cliches You Just Can't Stand Anymore

RadioActive · April 17, 2024 7:12 pm

We've talked frequently here about expressions that drive you crazy when you hear them on the radio or a TV newscast.

One of my least favourite was always "only one more sleep until..." as in "Only one more sleep until the Leafs start the playoffs" or "Only one more sleep before Santa is here for Christmas." Or, as anyone else not behind a mic would say it, "tomorrow."

But I've been hearing a not-so-new one on the Blue Jays broadcast recently, in fact twice in the last two days. It comes from the mouth of colour analyst Chris Leroux, who has repeated a phrase that sets my teeth on edge. And both times it was during a point in the Yankees series where Vladimir Gurrero Jr. had an RBI opportunity with someone on base.

Leroux reminded listeners that Vladdy had to "stay within himself" to succeed. What, exactly, does that mean? I've heard this idiotic sports cliché before and it hasn't made sense any of the times it's uttered. How do you "stay within yourself?" Are you renting a room in your brain?

Like "giving 110%," it's become this standard sports expression. But when it comes to saying this on air, I wish Leroux would have it stay within himself.

Hansa · April 17, 2024 7:19 pm

"Ongoing accident", unless the vehicles are backing up and running into each other over and over again the accident has already happened.

ED1 · April 17, 2024 7:28 pm

"Christmas came early for ____"
"Completely destroyed"

Also, there was one local news anchor years ago who started every read with "Well...". It was so annoying.

Larry Potash at WGN Morning News in Chicago brought up overused phrases and "anchor speak" a couple of years ago on their show...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9NRMraQWsU

paterson1 · April 17, 2024 8:54 pm

Jimmy Fallon when he says "That's what I'm talkin' about." Overused phrase and he says it a lot.

turkeytop · April 17, 2024 9:34 pm

When the confluence of several unfortunate circumstances leads to an adverse outcome.

"It was a perfect storm."

Saul · April 17, 2024 10:29 pm

I love the use of the word Tragic... as in this from a recent Toronto Sun headline...
Teen's body pulled from lake after tragic Ashbridges Bay drowning
My guess is it's to distinguish it from a comedic downing, or a happy drowning. Or maybe so that we're clear that they weren't just drowning their sorrows, but that somebody actually died.
Speaking of actually ... oh, don't get me started on that one...

Capricasix · April 17, 2024 11:01 pm

The overuse of “unprecedented”.

dieter · April 17, 2024 11:25 pm

"Rain failed to dampen the enthusiasm," dampens my enthusiasm for any story or reader who uses it.

Walter · April 18, 2024 2:28 am

"Police believe it was a targeted shooting." No guff. Somebody pulled a gun, aimed, and fired. What shooting isn't 'targeted'? Can't stand 'cop-speak'.

dieter · April 18, 2024 9:51 am

Walter wrote:
"Police believe it was a targeted shooting." No guff. Somebody pulled a gun, aimed, and fired. What shooting isn't 'targeted'? Can't stand 'cop-speak'.

I gently disagree on this one. Calling it a targeted shooting makes it different from the person being an innocent bystander or the victim of mistaken identity.

dieter · April 18, 2024 9:55 am

One more. I'm tired of the media telling us that every story has shocked a neighborhood, city, province or country. Some clearly do, but TV stations especially do this to get watching the start of their newscast. I always thought Global was the worst offender, but they all do it.

fyshtalk · April 18, 2024 9:55 am

I always laugh when baseball analysts talk about the batter "hitting it where it's pitched"! Where else would they hit it. ? Also.."he took something off that pitch "! Always wondered..."what was on it "?

Chrisphen · April 18, 2024 10:03 am

The big one that bugs me is the irrational need for Canadian news to obsessively search for the 'local' angle in every story.

"Coming up, Canadian star Ryan Gosling wows them on this week's Saturday Night Live, but first here's Lana with weather..."

Walter · April 18, 2024 10:11 am

dieter wrote:
Walter wrote:
"Police believe it was a targeted shooting." No guff. Somebody pulled a gun, aimed, and fired. What shooting isn't 'targeted'? Can't stand 'cop-speak'.
I gently disagree on this one. Calling it a targeted shooting makes it different from the person being an innocent bystander or the victim of mistaken identity.

I guess, but hitting an innocent bystander just means the perp was a lousy shot and missed the person he was targeting in the first place. There is always a 'target'.

Saul · April 18, 2024 10:15 am

dieter wrote:
Walter wrote:
"Police believe it was a targeted shooting." No guff. Somebody pulled a gun, aimed, and fired. What shooting isn't 'targeted'? Can't stand 'cop-speak'.
I gently disagree on this one. Calling it a targeted shooting makes it different from the person being an innocent bystander or the victim of mistaken identity.

It was still targeted. Just that the target was mistaken. Sometimes police jargon seems awkward, but in some cases it's actually quite precise. I don't think it's unreasonable even for police communications personnel to stick to the police version. The journalist's skill is in translating the somewhat obscure into plain language while maintaining accuracy. Same with science-speak, or legal-speak, or technician-speak, etc...

Chrisphen · April 18, 2024 10:25 am

Saul wrote:
dieter wrote:
Walter wrote:
"Police believe it was a targeted shooting." No guff. Somebody pulled a gun, aimed, and fired. What shooting isn't 'targeted'? Can't stand 'cop-speak'.
I gently disagree on this one. Calling it a targeted shooting makes it different from the person being an innocent bystander or the victim of mistaken identity.
It was still targeted. Just that the target was mistaken. Sometimes police jargon seems awkward, but in some cases it's actually quite precise. I don't think it's unreasonable even for police communications personnel to stick to the police version. The journalist's skill is in translating the somewhat obscure into plain language while maintaining accuracy. Same with science-speak, or legal-speak, or technician-speak, etc...

Who could forget "known to police"? That's another meaning-free duckspeak trope that needs to die.

JohnW · April 18, 2024 12:06 pm

Ads with incorrect use of "less" and "fewer". Fingernails on the blackboard!

mic'em · April 18, 2024 12:11 pm

I find the constant use of the word problematic by certain radio hosts, problematic.

newsguy1 · April 18, 2024 12:52 pm

I literally laughed my ass of when I read that.
Then I literally lost my mind when I read it.
It was literally the funniest thing I ever heard in my entire life.
I literally died.
Police will release my name pending notification of next of kin.
That was after a police officer discharged his firearm and I became deceased.
But it wasn't a targeted shooting.
But when I woke up this morning I had no way of knowing this was going to happen.
It was every parents' worst nightmare.

Dale Patterson · April 18, 2024 9:42 pm

My pet peeve - and you hear it a lot - is when they say so-and-so graduated such-and-such a university. No, it should be "graduated from." The person graduated, not the university.

newsguy1 · April 18, 2024 9:51 pm

My pet peeve is when they say so-and-so graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University.... (rim shot)

ED1 · April 19, 2024 2:05 pm

Another one to add to the list...

Subject "weighed in" regarding a topic/controversy.....

Does anyone in the real world actually use this phrase in that context?

newsguy1 · April 19, 2024 2:19 pm

OK, just let me toss my hat in the ring here.
For some reason news writers like to use sports and boxing analogies.
In Canada they use hockey references as though each time they are original and nobody's ever thought of them before.
For that the need to spend time in the penalty box.
They are after all skating on thin ice.
I could go on but I don't want to go into overtime.

RonaldS · April 19, 2024 4:36 pm

I know this is pedantic, but when reporting on an accident or other traffic infraction, the statement "Travelling at a high rate of speed" is meaningless and is very very grating.

Properly expressed, it's "rate of change of" something.

Rate of change of position is speed and rate of change of speed is acceleration.

Everytime I hear this on air, I hear a chorus of my university physics professors immediately correcting this.

mace · April 19, 2024 5:17 pm

These two apply to talk radio. Please turn your radio down and Thank you for taking my call.

Walter · April 19, 2024 5:23 pm

mace wrote:
These two apply to talk radio. Please turn your radio down and Thank you for taking my call.

"Yeah, like I was sayin' to your screener, there.."

deLaat · April 19, 2024 9:26 pm

"...filmed before a live studio audience..."

As opposed to a dead one?

kevjo · April 19, 2024 9:40 pm

Capricasix wrote:
The overuse of “unprecedented”.

Followed very closely by 'epic" - heard in news stories and show promos a lot.

kevjo · April 19, 2024 9:43 pm

ED1 wrote:
Another one to add to the list...

Subject "weighed in" regarding a topic/controversy.....

Does anyone in the real world actually use this phrase in that context?

Especially when they "weighed in" to help "unpack" all the aspects of the story in order to determine some of the "takeaways".