Week 2

Word of the Week

I found this week's word in an article about the Sundance Film Festival.  The word emblazoned was used when describing the Tom Ford suit Morgan Spurlock was wearing, emblazoned with the corporate logos of the companies that backed the film.  It caught my attention because if I were writing the sentence, I would have used the word wrong and said "emblazed."  Yourdictionary.com defines 'emblazoned' as a transitive verb, to adorn or decorate, to display brilliantly.


Catch of the Week

I decided to apply last week's murder lesson for this catch of the week.  I found an article about a woman shot in the head in 1999.  Throughout the article, the woman is referred to as "murdered," and in the end, a reward is offered for any information about her killer.  No one has been convicted of murder, so saying that the woman was murdered is incorrect according to AP style.


Headline Challenge

A headline on BBC News reads "Moscow bombing: Medvedev in Domodedovo airport pledge."  To me, this just doesn't seem to flow.  First of all, "Domodedovo airport pledge" sounds like something specific, like an annual event or something.  Also, simply referring the president's state as a "pledge" doesn't really give the reader a scope of what the story is about.  They could read right past it.  When I was first glancing through headlines, I hadn't yet heard of the airport bombing.  This was the first link I saw referring to it, and it wasn't a good headline to lead me to the story.  I would rewrite the headline with something more direct like, "Russian president pledged to punish those behind airport bombing."


Favorite Passage of the Week

I found this in an article on ESPN.  It's about the Outback Bowl and Urban Meyer's last game as the Florida Gators head coach.

"The people all around him cried as he walked off the field for the final time as the University of Florida head coach.

His wife, Shelley.  His two daughters.  The families of his assistant coaches.  Random Gators fans, soaking in the end of an incredible run that may never be duplicated."

I think what did it for me was the usage of the word 'soaking' right after the lead about all the people who cried.  It just worked.  It gave insight to the emotional scene of the day.