A colleague noted six uses of the description “deep-pocketed” in our copy in a single week not long ago. There were four more appearances during another recent week: “deep-pocketed investors,” “deep-pocketed donors” and “deep-pocketed tobacco companies” (twice).
A quick check of our archives suggests a spike in “deep-pocketed” in the last two presidential election years, probably owing to the ubiquity of those “deep-pocketed donors.”
At one time, “deep-pocketed” may have seemed like a fresh and clever alternative to “wealthy.” That was probably quite a while ago. Next time the phrase arises, let’s consider whether “wealthy” or “rich” might serve just as well — or whether any modifier is needed at all.
More From the Cliché Watch
Our colleagues at The Washington Post’s Outlook section keep a running list of overused words and phrases that they try to eliminate from their copy. It includes some examples that would be very familiar to Times readers — “underscores,” “narrative,” “rare window” — though “deep-pocketed” hasn’t yet made the list.
Here’s another nominee for our think-twice-then-delete-it list: “watering hole.” This dated colloquialism, referring to a bar, appears dozens of times a year in our pages.
“Watering hole” does make occasional appearances in the Science section in its unobjectionable original sense — the place where the zebras gather for a drink, and the lions sneak up to eat them. Let’s see if we can confine it to the savanna for a while, and call a bar a bar.
In a Word
This week’s grab bag of grammar, style and other missteps, compiled with help from colleagues and readers.
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Opened in 1895, the first public golf tournament in the country was held there, and the Edwardian locker room was once a postgame hangout for Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson and the Three Stooges.
A dangler. “Opened in 1895” refers to the club, not the tournament.
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But a more moderate Republican presidential candidate, like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, would struggle to win Southern primaries, where many voters adhere to conservative orthodoxy.
The Times’s stylebook, in the “titles” entry, says this:
In identifying officials of cities, states or countries, do not make the place name part of the title: Mayor Stacy K. Bildots of Chicago, not Chicago Mayor Stacy K. Bildots.
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By rerouting walkways, tourists will no longer trample meandering 200-foot shallow roots, and by removing the road, the diversion of water from the trees will come to a halt.
The gerunds “rerouting” and “removing” are danglers. (Tourists aren’t rerouting the walkways, and the diversion of water isn’t removing the road.)
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Despite strong dislike of President Obama’s handling of health care, a majority of people in three Southern states — Kentucky, Louisiana and North Carolina — would rather that Congress improve his signature health care law than repeal and replace it, according to a New York Times Upshot/Kaiser Family Foundation poll.
No need for “that” after “rather” in this comparison.
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Steven C. LaTourette, a Republican former congressman from Ohio who is close to Mr. Boehner, said the speaker’s comments meant he was ready to either push forward on immigration or was preparing for retirement.
What comes after “or” should be parallel to what comes after “either.” We could have said “he was either ready to push forward … or preparing for retirement.
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Neither Dr. Pianta nor the Curry School have received funding from Walton.
Neither “has” received funding.
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Directors of Sotheby’s gathered in their wood-paneled boardroom with an urgent goal: how to mollify Daniel S. Loeb, the outspoken hedge fund mogul who is the auction house’s largest shareholder.
The goal was “to mollify,” not “how to mollify.”
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If it were indeed a test, he played as if he had all the answers.
This is not a contrary-to-fact condition requiring a subjunctive (note the lack of a conditional “would” in the next clause). Just say “If it was indeed a test, he played …”
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Few players understand how to execute complex defensive schemes like Garnett, and his communication and leadership from the back line will be vital.
The preposition “like” seems to suggest we are comparing the defensive schemes to Garnett. Make it “the way Garnett does” or “as well as Garnett.”
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One of the things that makes the Pacers so good is the smothering interior defense of Roy Hibbert.
Recorded announcement: Make it “make” — “things that make the Pacers so good …” The relative clause describes all the “things,” of which we offer one example. Or, if we want to focus on just this one thing, simply say, “One thing that makes the Pacers so good is …”
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It’s a wink toward one of the things that makes this venerable ensemble special: cellist aside, its members stand, rather than sit.
Ditto. Also, “cellist” should be capitalized because what follows the colon is a complete sentence.
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Mr. Piketty’s publisher, Harvard University Press, plainly caught off-guard, scurried to meet the demand.
Our dictionary uses no hyphen in this phrase.
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The extraordinary worldwide attention paid to the death of Gabriel García Márquez, and the genuine sorrow felt by readers everywhere at his passing, tells us that the books are still very much alive.
This plural subject — attention and sorrow — requires a plural verb: tell.
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Under his leadership, he said, the museum has not only dived more energetically into contemporary art but has also broadened its overall focus to include more Latin American and non-Western art and more work by women (critics say it still has a long ways to go).
“Ways” is colloquial in this expression; make it “a long way to go.”
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In some senses, the case is as big of a deal as the Betamax ruling in 1984, which allowed consumers to record programming.
There should be no “of” in this construction. Make it “as big a deal.”
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For most of his long and very public life as a philanthropist, William E. Rapfogel has been surrounded by powerful friends and politicians, chief among them Sheldon Silver, the New York State Assembly speaker.
A philanthropist is someone who gives money to charitable causes. Rapfogel was the chief executive of a charitable organization, so something like “charity director” would be more precise.
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The possibility that some New York cities will get less federal dollars because of declining populations has prompted the New York senator to preserve a carve-out.
Fewer federal dollars, or less federal money.
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But the viability of those networks are based on decades of public investments in the Internet, the companies’ use of public rights of way and, in the case of some companies, a long government-sanctioned monopoly over telephone service.
Agreement problem. Make it “viability … is.”
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When the Atlanta wine collector Julian LeCraw Jr. spent $91,400 on a single bottle in 2006, he was convinced that the 1787 vintage from the renowned Chateau d’Yquem in France was worth the lofty price, then the highest ever for a white wine.
Make it “Château.” The stylebook wants the accent mark in a French name.
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Even after this week’s plunge, Amazon’s shares remain expensive by most measures. It’s price-to-earnings ratio was still over 500.
Ouch. “Its,” of course.
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[Home page summary] “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” about a transgendered performer with issues, stars Neil Patrick Harris in the title role.
The stylebook entry calls for “transgender.”
