So many issues

I have this thing little thing that really bugs me. (Okay, so we all know there is a vast well from which to draw in the 'what bugs Wendy' category. But let's just pretend there is only one little thing. Thanks. You're too kind.) About a year ago I was surprised to hear a newscaster refer to a policeman as a 'cop'. Not that 'cop' is necessarily derogatory, as far as I know it's not. It just sounded really unprofessional, juvenile even. Don't get me wrong, I say 'cop', in conversation but then again I'm not broadcasting that conversation to millions of viewers either. Somehow it seems like a news source should be held to higher standard in their word choice. Shouldn't the type of forum dictate the formality of speech used? Now it seems like most news sources use the slang term more than they use 'police officer'. So much for decorum. I get an uncontrollable tick every time I hear it, but apparently 'cop' is acceptable enough 'cause all the cool kids (or newscasters at least) are using it. Slang is king.

Within the last couple of weeks my tick has gotten even worse. You might think I was having an epileptic fit if you didn't know better. I literally heard a news anchor say "The cops chased the bad guy . . .". Seriously, 'bad guy'. My mouth dropped, I swear it did. "ARE YOU FOUR?!" I asked the television. Tyler looked at me and smirked because he thinks I'm a language snob. (Yes, you can add that to list : music snob, food snob, book snob . . .to which I say 'Um, I did read the entire Twilight series, you know. How snobby could I be?) But, come on, could they NOT find a better word choice? Was it a 'bring your kids to work day' and the station let a kindergartner write their newscast? Did NO one in the office have access to a thesaurus when the writer hit a mental block looking for a synonym for 'BAD GUY'. How about 'Suspect'? 'Assailant'? 'Criminal'? Or, oh my, could it be so easy, how about 'man'? Yes, 'man' would be better. 'Man' would do nicely.

I'm not saying I think everyone should use the largest words possible, because honestly that's annoying too. Using a 'big word' when a simpler one will do the trick just sounds pompous. I'm completely for using the word that best fits what you're trying to say - as succinctly as possible. AND if you're having a casual conversation with someone, by all means, dumb it up as much as you want. If, however, you are a professional newscaster, and it's YOUR JOB to (at the very least) sound intelligent enough to be credible, perhaps using grade school vernacular is a bad choice. Got that, news chick?