Thursday, September 13, 2007

A real trooper

has gotten the message.

In an interview on NPR’s Morning Edition, a few minutes ago, General Petraeus referred to “our troopers and Iraqi troopers.” Not “troops.” This is a good thing. Maybe it signals the beginning of the end of the ambiguous use of troop to refer to an individual member of the armed services.

Language Log has covered the topic well.

This has no bearing on the content of the general’s testimony, of course, but I’m glad to applaud his care with the English language.

Words matter, particularly when they show respect for individuals.

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