Index Expurgatorius
William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), poet, journalist, and fifty-year editor of the New York Evening Post, has long held an overreaching influence on word choice used in newsprint.
The Index was basically a word list of Bryant’s personal preferences that his team were allowed to use/not use. These choices were later widely adopted by other publications.
Some of these choices would seem rather silly today:
Use “lenity” not “leniency.”
Use “observe” not “notice.”
Use “ten years” not “decade.”
Use “before” not “prior.”
Use “advance” not “progress.”
But I ask the reader to keep in mind that these choices probably made better sense when Bryant first listed them.
English is, wonderfully, a living and growing thing. Words die. New words are born. And word popularity, like hairstyles, come and go.
9/22
https://theweek.com/articles/448541/dont-use-pants-pantaloons-19-surprising-rules-copy-editors-used-enforce