Media’s use (or mis-use) of “troops”

Since when did the word, “troop,” mean one person? Print and TV journalists are using it that way everyday. “Bush is deploying 21,500 new troops to Iraq” or “15 troops died in a Baghdad car bombing.”

Don’t we in the media really mean, “soldiers” or “troop members?” My old trusty Associated Press Stylebook defines a troop as a “group of persons or animals.” My paperback American Heritage dictionary and Dictionary.com give similar definitions.

Since when did the definition change? I mean: we wouldn’t call a lone Boy Scout a troop, but we’d say a Boy Scout troop is made up of a number of Boy Scouts.

Anyway, it’s annoying.

How I learned to stop ignoring and love the blog

Why should I upgrade to Web 2.0 when the original Web works just fine?

That’s what I’ve told myself the last few years as I’ve sat on the sidelines and watched blogs, social networking and photo-sharing Web sites explode. Until now, I’ve just been a consumer of Web 2.0, reading blogs, viewing friends’ photos and watching the occasional goofy YouTube video.

But a confluence of events and realizations last Friday compelled me to take the plunge and enter the blogosphere. (more…)