QUOTE OF THE DAY
On Car ‘Crash’ vs. Car ‘Accident’
Using the wrong word may seem to absolve the guilty
This is the fifth in a series of brief quotations from books, articles, and other media — all based on my personal tastes and interests — published in @LitLife. I post longer pieces on books, journalism, and more at @janiceharayda.
Like a lot of former newspaper reporters, I’ve often sworn under my breath at the AP Stylebook, the journalist’s leg-breaker. But one of its guidelines changed, in a small way, how I speak and write. After reading this stylebook entry, I stopped calling every collision on I-98 an “accident”:
“accident, crash Generally acceptable for automobile and other collisions and wrecks. However, when negligence is claimed or proven, avoid accident, which can be read by some as a term exonerating the person responsible. In such cases, use crash, collision or other terms.”
From the 2019 Associated Press Stylebook (Basic Books, 2019)
