793 - Why Journalists Use Misspellings Like 'Lede' and 'Spox'

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

Mignon Fogarty, Inc.

Society & Culture, Education

4.5 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2020

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Journalists "bury the lede," not the "lead." But why do they spell it that way? And what do HTK, TK, and CQ stand for? From "hed" to "spox," here's all the journo jargon that's fit to print. Read the transcript: Lede Use the hashtag #WhereIListen and tag me to show me where you listen to the Grammar Girl podcast. Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates. Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing course. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Grammar Pop iOS game. Peeve Wars card game. Grammar Girl books. HOST: Mignon Fogarty VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Links: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/ https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/podcasts https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/subscribe http://twitter.com/grammargirl http://facebook.com/grammargirl http://pinterest.com/realgrammargirl http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm a new one.
0:04.8	Grammar girl here.
0:05.8	I'm a neon fucker and you can think of me as your friendly guide to the English language.
0:11.0	We talk about writing, history, rules and cool stuff.
0:14.9	Today we'll talk about why newspaper journalists have odd spellings for so many words like
0:20.4	lead and deck.
0:21.7	But first I have a quick correction.
0:24.4	Last week I mispronounced the name of a TV show from the 1960s.
0:28.6	It is the many loves of Dobe Gillis, not the many loves of Dobe Gillis.
0:34.7	Can you tell I'm from the Harry Potter generation?
0:40.7	Newspaper journalists have no time to waste.
0:43.5	They have to get quotes from motor mouthed politicians and deal with looming deadlines.
0:48.4	They have to get this story quickly and correctly.
0:52.4	And that has been the industry mantra for more than a century long before the internet
0:57.5	turned the daily news cycle into a 24-7 centrophuge of information.
1:04.1	Since journalists are working in such a fast-paced environment, it makes sense that over
1:08.7	the decades they've incorporated shortcuts into their lexicon.
1:13.0	They've also adopted odd spellings and although those quirks may be funnel outsiders, they
1:19.0	help keep things clear for people with different jobs at a newspaper.
1:24.3	Each paper has its own nomenclature but some terms are standard throughout the industry.
1:29.6	For example, the first paragraph of a news story is the lead.
1:33.9	But the people working the type-setting machines used metal letters made of lead, same spelling
	...

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