Media’s use (or mis-use) of “troops”

January 27, 2007 · Posted in media rant 

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.

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Comments

5 Responses to “Media’s use (or mis-use) of “troops””

  1. Miiko on February 12th, 2007 8:09 pm

    It sure is annoying and a major pet peeve of mine! Thank you for pointing it out. I just wanna holler every time I hear them misuse the word troop.

  2. Tom Diederich on February 19th, 2007 9:33 pm

    You are so very correct, Wylie!

    However, please check that AP Stylebook on using “everyday.”

    In your entry, it should have been two words: every day. :-)

    (I couldn’t resist!)

  3. Wylie on February 19th, 2007 11:57 pm

    Ah, you are correct. I was just about to make the correction, but then realized: This is a blog. So screw it! So, every day, moving forward, I will spell and use every day correctly. :)

  4. Pete on February 23rd, 2007 8:36 pm

    I hope you saw this quote in the NY Times today, Wylie. It should warm your grammatical innards:

    “He has done all the courses to take his troop to war, and it would have been sad if he was pulled out. He joined the regiment to do what the regiment does.” (Attributed to an unidentified associate of a British army officer named Cornet Wales)

  5. Pete on March 4th, 2007 11:36 am

    How about this one, Wylie:

    “There is little dispute that Congress could, if it had the political will, end the war in Iraq tomorrow by using its power over appropriations to cut off funds to the troops.” (NY Times, March 4)

    If by “troops” they are referring to groups of soldiers, this is correct usage. But it’s really easy to see how this kind of writing could take us down that slippery slope of using “troop” incorrectly to mean a single soldier. Good writing, like democracy, takes constant vigilence.

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