i newspaper, October 29, 2024
An extraordinary number of writers are under the gross delusion that they are wordsmiths, and demonstrate this by using obscure words and mangled syntax. Sports journalists are particularly afflicted, and this is the worst example I have seen in a long time. In all modesty, if I haven’t heard of a word it’s a good bet that most readers haven’t either, and they don’t like being made to feel ignorant. According to the Collins dictionary, ‘cantillating’ enjoyed a moment in the sun in 1768 but for the last 150 years or so its use has been negligible to nil. It means ‘chanting’, but it cannot be used in the way this writer has done – you could not say ‘the fans have been chanting ten Hag with the song . . .’ I would use ‘serenading’ or possibly ‘taunting’. The moral is that if you try to show off you can end up looking like an idiot.