Dept. of Redundancy Dept.

I have been accused of being a stickler for precise language. Guilty as charged. I believe the exchange of ideas that is facilitated by language is truly miraculous; and it's critical that we strive to communicate with each other as accurately as possible. Language is, by far, the skill that has enabled humans to realize more success than any other species in this planet's history.

As is the case with most things, language's greatest strength is also it's greatest weakness. Because it is based on abstraction, there is plenty of wiggle room. We can say things that come close to what we mean, and people will still get it (if only computers worked this way!). On the other hand, we can say things and people will understand something we never intended.

What does this have to do with redundancy? Well, this is a lament about the general lack of precision in our language; particularly our tendency to use modifiers with words and phrases that already describe an idea accurately. Some examples: male model, reverse discrimination, proactive, pre-board, pre-condition, pre-enroll, pre-qualify. This trend of sticking pre- in front of a word to create a new word is especially troubling. The new word doesn't change the meaning of the word it modifies, but for some reason it takes on a cachet the existing word didn't have by itself.

Also, don't people know "AM" means morning? Unfortunately, I hear something like this fairly often: "Some idiot called my house at 3 AM in the morning."

I realize there's probably no harm done as long as the general idea is communicated. This may be true in the short term, but I think communication will ultimately suffer as a result. The idea that racial discrimination is different depending on the race of the one who is discriminated against, or that you can qualify before you qualify is just silly. Perceptions will be shifted. Precision will be lost.

In Support of Rob Blair

On Monday, January 17, Rob Blair was fired from his job as a weatherman on KTNV-TV in Las Vegas for uttering what was interpreted by many to be a racial slur. The offending phrase has been widely reported as "For tomorrow, 60 degrees, Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Day, gonna see some temperatures in the mid-60s."

Without the benefit of having seen the forecast, my initial reaction was there is a good explanation for what people thought they heard. I first learned about the story yesterday, and immediately thought it was the result of a simple transposition of the "K" sound in King with the first part of the "unior" sound in Junior. My guess is that he stopped halfway through to correct himself and everyone heard -- well, you get the picture. I have done this more often than I would like to admit.

Today I came across a draft of an op ed piece attributed to Linton Johnson (reportedly a close friend of Blair's) which defends Mr. Blair and criticizes (rightly so) those who have rushed to judge him. I completely agree with the sentiment expressed in these words, whether they were really written by a friend of Blair's or not. It is appalling to me that so many people would condemn this man over something that could be easily explained.

I'm not sure what to make of a subsequent report revealing that, incredibly, the forecast was taped; and although it was reviewed by at least six people, no one noticed the gaffe before broadcast. I don't, however, believe it's a conspiracy at work. At worse, it demonstrates poor attention to detail. On the other hand, the word is not that well-known as a slur (I'm guessing a lot of black people will argue with this) outside the South, and it could be that no one in the newsroom recognized the potential for trouble. Hmm. A good argument for diversity at all levels of the media, though.

Of course, I could be completely wrong and this was really a Freudian slip. Or worse, he actually thought he could say something so outrageous, apologize and get to keep his job. Does anyone really believe that? I can only imagine how Mr. Blair must feel right now. I just want him to know there are those of us who believe he made an honest mistake and hope that he can eventually make a living in his chosen profession.

And although it really shouldn't matter, I also want to mention that I happen to be a black man.