Slashdot Mirror
New York Times Bans Use of Word "Tweet"
An anonymous reader writes "New York Times standards editor Phil Corbett has had enough of his journalists' sloppy writing. Their offense? Using the 'inherently silly' word 'tweet' 18 times in the last month. In an internal memo obtained by theawl.com, he orders his writers to use alternatives, such as '"use Twitter" ... or "a Twitter update."' He admits that ' ... new technology terms sprout and spread faster than ever. And we don't want to seem paleolithic. But we favor established usage and ordinary words ...' After all, he points out, ' ... another service may elbow Twitter aside next year, and "tweet" may fade into oblivion.' Of course, it is also possible that social media sites will elbow paleolithic media into oblivion, and Mr. Corbett will no longer have to worry about word use."
While this sounds like it could as well be an Onion story, the memo is being widely reported.
for those who "tweet" is "twat".
Much more fitting.
Yeah, man... things are never gonna change. EVER. Thinking otherwise is so old-school ~
Phil Corbett groks journalism.
The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.
No, it will not forever be the term. "Tweet" is a very Twitter-specific term, and a stupid one at that.
Unlike the term used for the people who use Twitter: "Twats".
I'll bet people are tweeting this story even now....
"Waste not one watt!" - CZ
Heck, I'm still annoyed at "website". When did those two words merge?
The hyphen was removed in 2000 it was part of the fix for the y2k bug.
Knowledge = Power
P= W/t
t=Money
Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
It doesn't mean you have to use it every other sentence. This is particularly true if the subject of the story is Egyptian mummies, the campaigns of Napoleon, or a new composition by Philip Glass. Actually, on second thoughts it's probably OK for the latter.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
"It's also a disingenuous way to represent the current culture climate."
Last time I looked, newspapers were into reporting news. "Represent the current culture climate" is what literature majors are supposed to be doing between shifts at the fryer station.
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
Please tell me you did that - all of it - on purpose.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
"English doesn't borrow words from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleys, knocks them unconscious, and rifles through their pockets for loose grammar." Still Twitter is for twits that think we care about the minutiae of their lives.
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Slang terms are unprofessional. You might as well allow NYT editors to write articles like "Popo caps a bitch after she tried to jack a 7-11"
Finally a Slashdot post I can understand!
" You might as well allow NYT editors to write articles like "Popo caps a bitch after she tried to jack a 7-11"
Are you listening NYT? I will buy print and web editions of your paper, as well as follow you on Twitter if this starts happening.
Long live the BSD license
Neology is a religion centered around a make-believe Messiah in a highly successful sci-fi trilogy by the Wachowski brothers.
As for 'neologism', well that's just some obnoxious term Wikipedia uses, as parodied by the recent malamanteau xkcd entry.
I just try to work the word 'twit' into the conversation in place of 'tweet' whenever possible. You need to do so as if you didn't notice any difference.
http://twitter.com/shitmydadsays
Everyone else can eat a bag of dicks. Twitter is, to me, a one-liner joke delivery mechanism.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
Chance has, I am archeologist of future. Traveled now for investigate your strange word usage {tweet | kleenex | slashdotted}. Also your convoluted sentences for {articles | compounds}.
Thanks arguing for obviate my job, insensitive clod!
You have a Woof on line 1.
MSIE: The world's most standards-complaint web browser.
Oh, really? According to The Twitter Glossary,
If anyone has a right to define terms relating to Twitter, that'd be it.
MSIE: The world's most standards-complaint web browser.
I love how after the definition it says "Learn more about 'google' with Bing - bing.com"
Right on! RT @Antisyzgy: I am very happy this happened. Twitter is for narcissistic people to spout off meaningless snippets of their unimpressive lives. I thought people would have had enough of it from Facebook or Myspace, but apparently people need an even more frequent dose of bullshit.
We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
the US wouldn't (heck, already doesn't) recognise British "English" as official and vice-versa.
FTFY
I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.
HAI! I CAN HAZ TWEETER??
I always thought "Using Twitter" was a euphemism for defecation. Just ask Gabe.