The word can be used for special effect, says Phil Corbett, “or in places where a colloquial tone is appropriate, but should not be used routinely in straight news articles.” He adds: “Of the dozens of blogs and web sites worldwide that weighed in, exactly two actually contacted me directly to ask about the issue.”
Phil Corbett, the latest standards editor at the Times (maybe the greatest job in the world?), has issued a proclamation! Yesterday, the following memo went out, asking writers to abstain from the invented past-tense and other weird iterations of the magical noun-verb “Twitter.” His case isn’t terrible, actually—and he offers this terrifying vision: “Someday, ‘tweet’ may be as common as ‘e-mail.’” Oh dear. Well, read for yourself and decide. How About “Chirp”? Some social-media fans may disagree, but outside of ornithological…
Phil Corbett, the latest standards editor at the Times (maybe the greatest job in the world?), has issued a proclamation! Yesterday, the following memo went out, asking writers to abstain from the invented past-tense and other weird iterations of the magical noun-verb “Twitter.” His case isn’t terrible, actually—and he offers this terrifying vision: “Someday, ‘tweet’ may be as common as ‘e-mail.’” Oh dear. Well, read for yourself and decide. How About “Chirp”? Some social-media fans may disagree, but outside of ornithological…