Yourdictionary.com defines the noun form of caper as: a playful jump or leap; a wild, foolish action or prank; a robbery or theft, a criminal act or plan (slang).
It was used in an article on abcnews.go.com about Lindsay Lohan's latest bit of trouble. She was being investigated for the theft of a $2,500 necklace.
"The question is the probation violation; that will only be dealt with after the necklace caper is resolved in one way or the other"
I found the word interesting because this is an example of a word that is seemingly simplistic, but I couldn't recall ever seeing it before.
Yourdictionary.com says that it comes from the Middle English word caperis and the Latin word capparis.
Catch of the Week
Right after lab the on Feb. 20 I drove to Jacksonville for my mom's 40th birthday. I had a hair appointment at 3, and right as I was getting up to pay, I saw and old Saturn get hit on the driver's side as it was making a left turn. It was bad. Traffic was backed up for a long time, and the 76-year-old driver had to be life-lighted.
The next day, I searched for a story online to follow up and found the word highway spelled "highwya" when describing what where the accident occurred.
Headline Challenge
I found the headline "Diet Soda May Lead To Stroke? Really?" on time.com to be misleading. The article is about how diet soda can lead to a stroke, but I think the "really" at the end gives the headline a sarcastic undertone. I would change the headline to a more straight-forward "Studies Say Diet Soda May Lead to Stoke."
Passage of the Week
The story I picked this week is actually a really sad on. On cnn.com, a headline that read "Abuse clues in Fla. twins case put spotlight on child services" caught my attention. Then the lead really caught my attention.
"They had blood relatives in Houston who wanted to adopt them.
A guardian ad litem volunteer had concerns about the couple who had adopted them.
Child investigators were called to their home on more than one occasion.
Yet on Monday, the 10-year-old boy was found, burned and trembling, soaked with a caustic substance, and his twin sister dead in a body bag, in the back of their adoptive father's red Toyota pickup truck along a south Florida interstate."
I liked it because it really drew me in. By telling me about the other options the children had and the missed opportunities that could have saved them, I really wanted to read to the end of the story. This inspired me because leads are what I find hardest of journalistic writing. I hope to write effective leads like this in the future.
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