3 ms·
> why would you choose to change a shorter, more common word for a longer, less common one if they mean exactly the same? I'm not the OP, but you're assuming t
by k1m 5y ago
> why would you choose to change a shorter, more common word for a longer, less common one if they mean exactly the same?
I'm not the OP, but you're assuming this was copied and pasted and the word changed deliberately. I can think of a number of reasons why the different word was used, that has nothing to do with an attempt to mislead: e.g. autocorrect if typing it on mobile, genuine error (thinking it was actually 'keystone' in the original).
- dogorman 5y agoJournalists and editors swap out words all the time, particularly when they aren't explicitly quoting somebody. People who write for a living tend to like words and pick words form sets of synonyms that suit their personal preferences. Any story that has been written about by more than one writer/editor will almost certainly have headlines that mean the same thing using different words. A current example grabbed from google news: "Two dams in Inner Mongolia collapse after heavy rain" "Two dams in China's Inner Mongolia collapse after torrential rain" "Heavy rain" and "torrential rain" mean basically the same thing. Why does one headline use one phrase, and the other another? Is this some sort of malicious attempt to propagandize at us? Or is it just an editor/writer who fancies the word 'torrential'? I think it's the second.
- k1m 5y agoYes, I should have added that I see nothing wrong with the replacement of key with keystone here. Not sure what the big issue is. I was just surprised that someone who does object to it assumes a HN posting has been deliberately crafted to mislead when it could simply have been an innocent error.