Dec 1, 2015 3 min read

We have occasionally railed on this page about politically correct language that substitutes simplicity and clarity for touchy-feely circumlocutions. We’re thinking about those folks who would set aside “handicapped” and “disabled” for “person who is wheelchair mobile,” or describe someone who is overweight as a “person of size” or someone who is rich as “a person of material wealth.”

And now we have to come to the defense of another aspect of our language, something that is important to us as journalists – the use of the word “said.”

There’s barely a news story out there where the word “said” is not deployed. Officials, whether they hold elected office, are in law enforcement or serve in some other capacity, are tapped for their knowledge of events or policy. Everyday people describe their lives for a feature story. Or a musician is asked for details about his work. And it’s more than sufficient, any old hand in a newsroom will tell you, to say someone “said” something, or, perhaps as an alternative, “explained” something. Much beyond that, and you’re getting into writing that unduly calls attention to itself.

The late novelist Elmore Leonard, who knew a thing or two about crafting brisk, snappy prose, also came to the defense of “said.” Writing in The New York Times in 2001, he pointed out “said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with ‘she asserverated,’ and had to stop reading and get the dictionary.”

Unfortunately, it appears some teachers across the country, including a few in nearby Mt. Lebanon, are ignoring Leonard’s sage advice. According to an article that appeared in The Wall Street Journal earlier this week, some English teachers are telling students to sidestep “dead words” in their writing like “said.” Among the other words they have in their gunsights are “good,” “bad” “fun” or even “went” (“wormed” and “peregrinated” are among potential substitutes for the latter). One teacher even told the newspaper he takes points off for the use of forbidden words or contractions in his students’ work, and when students complained that some of the greatest writers the language has ever produced have used these “forbidden” words, he responds, “When you get to the level of Charles Dickens, you can do with words whatever you want.”

In Mt, Lebanon, according to the Journal, a mock funeral was being considered for words some instructors would like to banish.

Sure, we understand what these instructors are aiming for – they’re trying to get their charges to explore a greater range of vocabulary and use words that might pack more descriptive punch. And it’s true William Shakespeare was more than a “good” playwright, or the Beatles were more than a “good” rock band. Terms like “miraculous” and “peerless” would be appropriate in both cases. By the same token, it wouldn’t be merely “bad” if, say, Donald Trump became America’s next president – how about “catastrophic” and “calamitous?”

But sometimes those pesky “dead words” do the trick quite nicely – most particularly “said.” We agree with Atlanta-area English teacher Shekema Holmes Silveri, who told the Journal, “How in the world is a word dead that people use every day?”

Forget about the bogus “War on Christmas” – the war on the word “said” must end!