OUTRAGE: The Associated Press has begun the process of mainstreaming the wildly uncreative “Great Recession” as the official term for the downturn that began in 2007 by entering it in their Stylebook. It’s not the Oxford English Dictionary, but still, this gesture, this pandering to mediocrity and mass taste is a terrible disappointment to us here at Daily Intel, who as you may or may not know have been lobbying for this period in economic history to be called “The Greatest Depression” since it began. Not just because the financial crisis brought a swift end to a number of truly loathsome cultural trends — McMansions, bottle service, Hummers — gave JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon the movie-star-like recognition that he richly deserved, and gave us something to bond over (laughing at rich people who complained about having to give up their high-thread-count sheets), but because, as history will no doubt prove, this recession wasn’t that bad. Sure, a lot of people lost their jobs, but it’s not like they had to join breadlines. A lot of them just joined Twitter! But all is not lost.
We may not have to stand for this after all. There’s still a chance, Bloomberg News informs us today:
Inclusion of the Great Recession is “a starting point” to making it the official name for this most recent period, said Grant Barrett, a dictionary editor and writer about language as well as co-host of the public radio show, “A Way With Words.”
Go to the AP’s website and vote for Greatest Depression now! Together we can do this.
Intel’s coverage of the Greatest Depression.
‘Great Recession’ Gets Recognition as Entry in AP Stylebook [Bloomberg]
