CorpComms Magazine

Phil Corbett, standards editor at the New York Times, has issued a blanket ban on using the word 'tweet' in print to safeguard the quality of the paper's prose.

 

In an internal memo, the word warden described the term as 'inherently silly' and recommended the use of 'deft, English alternatives.' He chirruped: 'Outside of ornithological contexts, 'tweet' has not yet achieved the status of standard English. And standard English is what we should use in news articles.'

 

The paper landed the epithet 'The Old Grey Lady' for its preference of words over pictures and Corbett is clearly keen than none of the grey should be misspent. His frustration is understandable. He noted that tweet, as a noun or verb, 'has appeared 18 times in articles in the past month'.

 

Whilst imploring writers at the broadsheet 'to avoid colloquialisms, neologisms and jargon,' Corbett went on to assure them he did not want to appear 'paleolithic,' acknowledging that 'someday, tweet may be as common as e-mail.' But until that day, it will not be found between the sheets of the American daily.