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Subject:liguistic lapses From:Lester Klein <lklein -at- CAP -dot- GWU -dot- EDU> Date:Sat, 20 Aug 1994 12:30:26 -0400
Here are a couple of deplorable misuses of the King's English:
IN DEPTH is perfectly good prepositional phrase as in
"We should study this problem in depth."
The hyphenated expression "in-depth", used as an adjective is definitely
declasse and should be eschewed.
UP FRONT is another example. Fine as a prepositional phrase, terrible
when hyphenated and used as an adjective.
Military intelligence, the postal sevice, unborn babies, student athletes,
rock musicians, living legends, and Congressional Ethics Committees should
avoid the use of oxymorons, at least for the forseeable future.
Les Klein
114 Melbourne Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20901
301-87-0659, lklein -at- cap -dot- gwu -dot- edu
