A lament this morning on the unfortunate officialese that brings us the term K-9 rather than, simply, dog. Yes, Genus Canis members are canines and, yes, K-9 is a clever way to write canine. But its only as clever as gr8 or cu l8tr. So can we just call them dogs? Dog has the same number of characters as K-9 and one fewer syllable, so it cannot be about efficiency. Dont even get me started on K-9 Unit. The official looking and sounding (but nonetheless ridiculous) K-9 comes from the same paramilitary jargon adopted by local police that brings us gems like I proceeded to surveil the premises instead of I watched the building. Or, the vehicle accident involved entrapment instead of the person was trapped in the car. To our dedicated public servants, a plea: Next time you are on camera, avoid the temptation to grimace and come up with overwrought gems like entrapped and surveilled and thrill us instead with some plain talk.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 16:22:11 +0000
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