Eddie Haskell and Howard Beale -- Go Home! Journos Are Alienating Readers With 'Retro' References
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is often compared to Eddie Haskell. This is fine if you realize that Haskell was the know-it-all neighbor of Beaver Cleaver on "Leave it to Beaver."
Those who grew up watching that show might also get the recent Los Angeles Times reference to the “Cleaverization” of Michelle Obama, or Rachel Maddow’s characterization of herself as “a bit of a Wally Cleaver.” Members of an even earlier generation may even know what one auto industry analyst meant when she commented about the scrutiny of GM's books: "This is green-eyeshade stuff." (Such eyeshades were once worn by accountants to protect their eyes from glaring overhead light bulbs.)
This is retrotalk: employing terminology rooted in our past that may not be familiar to younger readers. Or immigrants. Or anyone at all, for that matter.
Journalists who lace their copy with such retro terms or names risk alienating those who are too young to get the allusions. Even common catch phrases that hearken back to earlier times may be puzzling to younger readers: stuck in a groove, 98-pound weakling, drop a dime, bigger than a breadbox, or a tough row to hoe. (As one giggling third-grader asked when his teacher used this one, “Isn’t 'ho' a bad word?”)
Read entire article at http://www.editorandpublisher.com
Those who grew up watching that show might also get the recent Los Angeles Times reference to the “Cleaverization” of Michelle Obama, or Rachel Maddow’s characterization of herself as “a bit of a Wally Cleaver.” Members of an even earlier generation may even know what one auto industry analyst meant when she commented about the scrutiny of GM's books: "This is green-eyeshade stuff." (Such eyeshades were once worn by accountants to protect their eyes from glaring overhead light bulbs.)
This is retrotalk: employing terminology rooted in our past that may not be familiar to younger readers. Or immigrants. Or anyone at all, for that matter.
Journalists who lace their copy with such retro terms or names risk alienating those who are too young to get the allusions. Even common catch phrases that hearken back to earlier times may be puzzling to younger readers: stuck in a groove, 98-pound weakling, drop a dime, bigger than a breadbox, or a tough row to hoe. (As one giggling third-grader asked when his teacher used this one, “Isn’t 'ho' a bad word?”)