Terms

alleged

This journalistic standby, thought by many to be essential to "good" reporting, often can be misplaced. Example: "The thief broke into the house, stole the items and then allegedly fled down the street." Alleged and allegedly are not magic wands of absolution; injecting them randomly in a sentence is neither good writing nor good libel defense. In the above example, there are four claims presented: The individual is a thief, he broke into the house, he stole, he fled. It is only this last item that the reporter has chosen to qualify as a charge and not as a fact.

Moreover, many journalists use the words in a passive or elliptical sense: "He allegedly drove into the car." A much stronger and more logical way of writing the sentence would be: "Police allege Smith drove into the car." Better yet, "Police charge ..." or "Police assert ...." Break from the notion that using a variation of allege is a requisite for a police story. But certainly no matter how you write the story, use your words logically.

beg the question

The phrase "beg the question" perhaps is the most misused phrase in modern English. When improperly used, this phrase lacks all logic: Why would anyone beg an inanimate object such as question? Still, pseudo-sophisticates love to use this phrase although they clearly have no idea of its meaning.

Begging the question is an idiom describing the logical fallacy of including in your premise the claim you are making. This also is known as "Reasoning in a Circle" and by its Latin translation "Petitio Principii." Perhaps a more understandable phrase would be "avoiding the question."

An example:

Q: "Is this action illegal?"
A: "Yes it is illegal because it is prohibited by law."
Q: "Why is it prohibited by law?"
A: "Because it is illegal."

Or simply:

"You can believe me because I never lie"

In almost every case of misuse of "beg the question," the writer or speaker means "raise the question," as in "The desire to set campaign spending limits, raises the question of if political offices these days merely go to the highest bidder."

Because logic is no longer a typical course of study, even proper use of "beg the question" should be avoided. If you must, use a better descriptor for this fallacy, such as tautology, self-fulfilling prophecy or circular reasoning.

Outside its limited use in logic, the phrase "beg the question" is nonsensical. Use the phrase "raise the question" and avoid giving into the temptation to use language that sounds sophisticated but only reveals ignorance.

forthcoming and forthright

More often than not, when you hear the word forthcoming it is misused. Forthcoming means something that is coming or will be coming soon. Forthright means to be honest. Hence, to say "Jones claims the defendant was not forthcoming about his relationship to the victim" makes little sense. The word you want here is forthright.

The only time a person is forthcoming is when he or she is expected to arrive soon. Often we use forthcoming to refer to information and other expected materials: "The forthcoming report is expected to clear his name."

However, since forthcoming often creates a passive construct, try to avoid it entirely: "Jones expects the investigators' report will clear his name."

Oxymoron

Oxymoron refers to an item being described by two seemingly contradictory terms. Classic examples are "jumbo shrimp" or "act naturally." However, oxymoron should not be used to describe something that is an apparent contradiction. It is quite the opposite. It is a truth that would appear to be an impossibility. Therefore when a reporter says something to the effect of "but isn't non-violent aggression a sort of oxymoron general," he or she is actually agreeing that the term is accurate rather than questioning it. The same would apply to the word paradox. Like, an oxymoron, a paradox is true, even though it might appear or sound impossible. In these cases, the better word you seek is "contradiction."

pleaded innocent

First, the past tense of plead is pleaded although pled is considered acceptable in some circles. More important, there is no court in the United States with the possible plea or verdict of "innocent." To report otherwise indicates three shortcomings of your publication:

inaccuracy -- to misreport a plea or a verdict is as egregious as misreporting the name of the accused or other parties in the case.
ignorance -- reporting an "innocent" plea or verdict illustrates a lack of technical knowledge about court proceedings as well as disregard for a tenet of our legal system: A defendant need not prove innocence, but a prosecutor must prove guilt.
fabrication -- you have created a phrase and an account of the proceedings because it fits your needs.

The "innocent" phrase became common in publications out of fear that when compositing a page, or perhaps even in the reporting of the story, due to carelessness or fate the "not" would be forgotten or overlooked. While there is logic to this approach, it hardly justifies the error of misreporting events. Newspapers chronicle events, but they also educate the public. We live in age when people picket and protest verdicts. When people can't comprehend the outcome of a major case, we even have riots. News publications need to instill in the public a full understanding of the legal system rather than merely being a catalyst for their confusion.

A decent publication should have enough safeguards to avoid an error such as an omitted "not" on a major story.

unique, most unique, very unique

Unique by definition means the only one. Therefore, it rarely needs modification. To call something the "most unique" or "very unique" would be misuse. There are not degrees of uniqueness.