My So-Called Radical Movement

I am now, officially, calling for all readers of SRWU to help me fight against a rising tide of injustice, inhumanity and, yes, I'll say it, evil.  Those who are doers of the evil (or, so-called "evil-doers") must be stopped once and for all.

If you are with me this far, then you undoubtedly know what I'm about to say.  And so, here it is:

I call for us to stop the rampant and growing problem of television news people and their use of the phrase "so-called."

They never use it correctly.  For instance, Chris Matthews said this weekend, "... and then there is the issue of these websites, the so-called "blogs"."

They aren't so-called "blogs", they are ACTUALLY called blogs.  This constant degradation of the blogosphere by the MSM requires them to, even when they are talking about a story in which blogs played a central role (read: Rathergate), demean, by use of the evil phrase, in insinuations of questionable existence or legitimacy.

Of course, it shouldn't surprise us, seeing as the Mainstream Media has been getting things a lot worse than rhetorical definition wrong, lately.

And so, I decree this phrase to be removed from the lexicon of the broadcaster's, um, lexicon, and with great vengeance and furious anger, strike down upon those who would attempt to poison and destroy us.

I'm just trying to be the shepherd.

Comments

[Jack Diederich]

Can we expand the war to include so-called "sneer quotes?"
That is another bit of editorializing that lets you know if the author thinks a particular characterization is true or not.

[Dylan]

Give me a good example, Jack. I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean by these so-called "sneer quotes."

[Brian]

Although I concur with your assessment of the negative vocal intonation of "so called blog", is it not possible that the talking heads are attempting to define blog as a contraction of the term "web log"?I think it is safe to assume that not everyone is fully wired in to all the latest neologisms. That being said, anyone who says "so called blog" using air quotes should be pulled from the air immediately.
Of greater concern is your choppy grammar and convoluted sentence structure. Your use of "MSM" in paragraph 4 before namimg it "Main Stream Media" in paragraph 5.....
P.S. Another sign of the apocolypse has sufaced with a news report that talks are in progress for"Apprentice,the musical".

[Dylan]

Brian,

1. While you are probably right that not EVERYONE is wired into the true meaning of "blog," I can guarantee that the MSM is. For Chrissakes, it was Time's "Word of the Year!"

2. Perhaps it is YOU who aren't wired in enough. I guarantee that those in the blogosphere (which I still think you should be) knew EXACTLY what I meant by MSM, as it has become the common acronym for the bloggie parlance.

That is all.

[Jack Diederich]

Quoting a single word requires either a parenthised explanation
"blog" (short for "web log")
or a followup quote
To try to "understand" the blah. Smith said "The path to blah is understanding, not ..."

If you stick quotes around a word that makes perfect sense when bare it gives the impression you, the author, think it is bunk. It has the same effect as leading a word with 'so-called'

'I eat healthy food' means I think I eat healthy food. 'I eat "healthy" food' means I eat food which has a label of "healthy" that I don't agree with.

From the first page of results on google "sneer quotes"
The "capture" of Saddam Hussein is being hailed as a great victory...
The author is talking about Hussein being captured, I don't know what Hussin being "captured" means. This was in an op-ed so it was the author's intent to be snarky. Hence the term "sneer quotes" (aka "scare quotes").

The google results have plenty of examples.

[Rusty]

I love me some sneer quotes.