cactuswatcher (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cactuswatcher) wrote2019-05-07 09:09 pm
cactuswatcher) wrote2019-05-07 09:09 pm
Pet peeve
My latest gripe with the news culture copying mistakes from every other news outlet is the misuse of the word "after."
From my local TV station's website, Pedestrian suffers life-threatening injuries after being struck by vehicle.
How horrible! First the person was hit by a vehicle, then afterward suffered life-threatening injuries? ...Of course not... For God's sake stop using 'after' plus a progressive tense as a synonym for 'when' plus a simple past tense. The injuries didn't happen after. They happened when!
Note the difference between this and a similarly constructed sentence, "Pedestrian dies after being struck by vehicle..." It's a very possible sequence of events, where the sentence quoted above is very unlikely.
From my local TV station's website, Pedestrian suffers life-threatening injuries after being struck by vehicle.
How horrible! First the person was hit by a vehicle, then afterward suffered life-threatening injuries? ...Of course not... For God's sake stop using 'after' plus a progressive tense as a synonym for 'when' plus a simple past tense. The injuries didn't happen after. They happened when!
Note the difference between this and a similarly constructed sentence, "Pedestrian dies after being struck by vehicle..." It's a very possible sequence of events, where the sentence quoted above is very unlikely.