The short of it

Not five minutes ago, I heard the forecaster on the Channel 13 news say "temps" instead of "temperatures".

Now, I'm not usually a stickler for language, seeing as I make a mistake in 1 in every 6 sentence I say. But really? Is this what we're coming to?

Perhaps I'm naive in my knowledge of television news. There must be numerous in's and out's that I am not well versed in. I hear it's a high paced profession, spitting out bad and good news left and right with just a slight tweek of countenance. That sort of thing must require stamina and talent. This shining star of a meterologist could have merely been trying to conserve time and airspace. Or, he was trying to make the weather that much more uplifting and trendy, like a causual article found whilst on the web.

Oh! Wait, I see where I've gone wrong. I assumed professionalism was something the televised news strove for, and maybe that's what's got me confused.

Because, as a child of these new times, that's what I want when I watch the news. Forget lousy terms like "murder" and "man slaughter" to describe three people being killed in their homes on the south side. I want the newscaster to label them as "slaughts" or "murds" with an ironic little frown.