Reluctance and reticence

I suppose, if we were to be generous at this season of goodwill (mwahahaha!), we would admit that even in a pre-recorded program such as tonight's The Europeans (ABC Radio National), the word 'reticence' could understandablyly be accidentally swapped for the word 'reluctance'. (There you go, see my slip of the keyboard? We all do it, but that's never my point in Turtles.) The presenter might be unable to read their own or someone else's handwriting. It could happen to anyone, and under pressure of broadcasting the presenter might not notice the malapropism.

However, the fact that the glaring error is broadcast twice in as many days, presumably after having been heard by the same presenter at least once, as well as by the journalist and producer or producers, and other staff, is not so easy to explain generously or excuse. Nor is it easy to work out why the reluctance/reticence gaffe is not unique to The Europeans, but is not uncommonly heard on other programs. Is Auntie reinventing common words?

Unless we have now to decide or agree that the ABC is no longer supposed to be something of a benchmark of good English, which I am steadily and reluctantly becoming convinced is the new belief at Auntie, then we can only ask, firstly, how it could happen, and secondly, why on earth the ABC doesn't employ a proofreader or two. Someone with a smattering of high school English could only improve today's Radio National. Or is it time to put a dictionary in each studio and office? These can be purchased for a dollar or two at charity shops, where they abound.

Tagged: scose, abc, australia, australian, english, language, radio, grammar, spelling, pronunciation, journalism, radio+national