LYNN NEARY, host: The more NPR senior analyst Daniel Schorr listens to politicians, TV talk show hosts and reporters these days, the more he thinks it's time for yet another linguistics lesson.</s>DANIEL SCHORR: Some of you said you liked my little essay on this program a month ago about the misuse of words - using who instead of whom, saying nation when you really mean country, incorrectly using the phrase up for grabs. Well, less encouraged, I have a few more pet peeves that I wish to call to your attention.</s>DANIEL SCHORR: They mainly occur in that all-encompassing place called the media. It's now become standard practice to announce that a program or an interview is live. Joe Dokes is standing by live. Larry King's program is called is "Larry King Live," as though we might doubt that he's a living human being.</s>DANIEL SCHORR: Then there is the word exclusive. I've seen a politician do four interviews on a Sunday morning, each network boasting that it has an exclusive. When I was young, we used the word exclusive only if our subject did no other interviews.</s>DANIEL SCHORR: Finally my greatest peeve of all - the word literal. Literal is used when people mean to say figurative. But literal is supposed to convey more intensity.</s>DANIEL SCHORR: Back in January, former Senator John Edwards used the word literally four times in one speech. One example: speaking about poor people who need chemotherapy. You can literally see the fear and terror in their eyes, he said. Or Senator Hillary Clinton, on a cold night in Iowa, saying her supporters at a campaigning event were outside literally freezing to death.</s>DANIEL SCHORR: Or Senator Joseph Lieberman objecting to an invitation extended to Iranian president Ahmadinejad to speak at Columbia University. Lieberman said he comes literally with blood on his hands.</s>DANIEL SCHORR: I fear for the undermining of our wonderful English language - not literally, of course.</s>DANIEL SCHORR: This is Daniel Schorr.</s>LYNN NEARY, host: You're listening to NPR News.
The more NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr listens to politicians, TV talk show hosts and reporters, the more he thinks it's time for a linguistics lesson. For example, "the media" too often flings around the word "live" in its coverage.