NPR standards editor Mark Memmott has counted up instances of the word “countless” in NPR’s copy. They’re not countless, he writes, but the word has turned up hundreds of times:
It’s tempting to say that we’ve used one word a countless number of times.
But that would be wrong, because we can quantify it:
– “Countless” showed up 255 times in the past year on NPR.org.
– The word is in 112 broadcast transcripts from that same period.
Memmott goes on to catalog the ways the modifier has been abused recently. There’s no way NPR journalists and their guests have identified hundreds of countless subjects, he writes. Also, if they’re referring to things that can be counted, it “just ends up sounding like a throwaway word that conveys little information”:
This is the point in this post where we should go the dictionary. The adjective “countless” is defined as “too many to count; innumerable; myriad.” If you want to make the case that you’re using it as a synonym for “myriad,” please be prepared to prove that you’re speaking of an “indefinitely large number.”
He also singles out offenders: First, “The Countless Lives Of Lauren Bacall,” an “All Things Considered” segment that chronicled the constant reinvention of Hollywood’s husky-voiced belle. And descriptions of “countless” Charlie Hebdo mourners is obviously taking license; millions would be a better word.
He finishes his note by admonishing political reporters:
By the way, it is not a job requirement that reporters covering the 2016 campaign always put “countless” before the words “handshakes,” “pork chops,” “county fairs,” “town halls” and “stump speeches.”
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