rookie
A BBC webpage uses “rookie” and I write to the BBC: “”Rookie” isn’t standard English and won’t be understood by many people in Britain. Also, some would call it slang. A lot of slang is country-specific. Similar words are “boomer”, “boondoggle” and “home run”, as well as “sticky wicket” and “googly”. Best to avoid all slang and to use words that are understood by all English speakers.”
Jonathan Amos, Assistant Editor, Science and Nature, replies: “I would largely agree with you - but I don’t think you can be too prescriptive. Some words that might be regarded as slang have very wide currency (eg movie); other supposedly non-slang words can be meaningless to many, or used wrongly (eg enormity). One has to be aware of words or phrases that have very specific meanings in different cultures (eg pants/trousers). On balance, I am happy with “rookie”, not least because of the context in which it is being used.”
I reply that “rookie” isn’t understood by many English speakers.
Posted by
at
18:52:00
