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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009"Potential possibility"
I have noticed a rise in the number of times I hear "potential" on broadcast/cable news programs lately. Probable* reason: the bosses have found a need to remind all anchors, announcers, and reporters to watch their English usage since the wrong word can (and does) lead to making them look stupid. Lately, I've heard "potential possibility" more than once. That's overkill, innit? *Or should that be "potential"?  SignatureMaria C. From a list of bad puns: Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other, "Does this taste funny to you?" On 26 Jan 2009, Maria C. wrote > I have noticed a rise in the number of times I hear "potential" > on broadcast/cable news programs lately. Probable* reason: the > bosses have found a need to remind all anchors, announcers, and > reporters to watch their English usage since the wrong word can > (and does) lead to making them look stupid. My guess is that it comes from the legal guys putting the fear of god in them: "Make sure you put 'potential' or 'alleged' in front of anything that could even remotely be construed as a statement of fact". SignatureCheers, Harvey CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed > I have noticed a rise in the number of times I hear "potential" on > broadcast/cable news programs lately. Probable* reason: the bosses [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > *Or should that be "potential"? Yes, and those usages are becoming iconic. SignatureSkitt (AmE) imagining things? > > I have noticed a rise in the number of times I hear "potential" on > > broadcast/cable news programs lately. Probable* reason: the bosses [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Yes, and those usages are becoming iconic. In a legendary way. -- Jerry Friedman, neither legendary nor mythical. >> I have noticed a rise in the number of times I hear "potential" on >> broadcast/cable news programs lately. Probable* reason: the bosses [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > >Yes, and those usages are becoming iconic. Go away! SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs Near Dublin, Ireland > I have noticed a rise in the number of times I hear "potential" on > broadcast/cable news programs lately. Probable* reason: the bosses have [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Lately, I've heard "potential possibility" more than once. That's > overkill, innit? Yes, but I find "real possibility" much more offensive to my sense of proper usage. > -- > Maria C. > From a list of bad puns: Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to > the other, "Does this taste funny to you?" One canibal to his dinner companion: "I don't like my mother-in-law" The other:"So eat the vegetables instead. >I have noticed a rise in the number of times I hear "potential" on >broadcast/cable news programs lately. Probable* reason: the bosses have [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >*Or should that be "potential"? "Potential overkill" might be safer. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > Lately, I've heard "potential possibility" more than once. That's > overkill, innit? It could refer to something that is not yet a possibility but might become one -- for example, the possibility of a tornado in a potential thunderstorm. Potential possibility - is that like a definite maybe? The redundancies don't bug me as much as the "Yeah"s or sentences which begin " The (noun) is when....." or "This is what happened." > Potential possibility - is that like a definite maybe? No, it's like a "perhaps maybe". |
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