3 ms·

This isn’t surprising, but I have trouble taking anyone seriously when they use the term “jabs”. I’m rather shocked it’s in the headline of a BBC article.

poszlem 10mo ago
Isn't "jab" just another word for "an injection" not only "a vaccine"?
- drbw 10mo ago
  In the UK, yes.
smelendez 10mo ago
Jabs is basically the British equivalent of the American term shots.
- RowanH 10mo ago
  Yes. Queens English countries it's the phrase used (New Zealand - that's what we use).
- al_borland 10mo ago
  Interesting. I’m so used to only hearing it from people about to rant about vaccine mandates, which has given it quite the negative connotation (for me) on this side of the pond.
elzbardico 10mo ago
Sometimes it is not malicious language. There's a trend in modern journalism towards colloquial, imprecise language that in itself is a reaction to decreasing reading abilities and vocabulary in the general population, as we are now in the descending slope of the Flynn's effect curve. Also, a journalist nowadays is evaluated as a professional basically by the amount of pageviews he can harvest. There's a strong incentive towards clickbait language.
- dkdcio 10mo ago
  in this case they’re just British mate
stevekemp 10mo ago
If it had been BBC Scotland you might have seen "jags" instead.
Aurornis 10mo ago
If this was a US-based journalist I’d agree, but the term doesn’t carry the same connotations for the BBC’s home audience
montgomery_r 10mo ago
English pedant and RP speaker here. Jabs is a colloquialism in British English, but the BBC website is riddled with grammatical and vocabulary errors daily and rarely rises above a secondary (high school) reading level.
dtf 10mo ago
While "jab" is used almost universally across UK print and broadcast media to describe an injection, it's interesting to note the choice of accompanying adjective. The Sun, The Telegraph, Daily Mail and The Times love to use "fat jab". The BBC, The Guardian and The Mirror seem to prefer "slimming jab" or "weight-loss jab". There's a lot to digest in those choices.
- hagbard_c 10mo ago
  It is just the usual vice vs. virtue approach to things where 'the right' tends to point at vices which are in need of curtailing while 'the left' points at the virtue in those turning away from such vices. This also relates closely to 'the right' tending to voice support for punishing those who commit vices in some way while 'the left' voices support for rewarding those who turn away from committing them. Deeper down it points down to the preference for personal agency and responsibility on 'the right' versus collective responsibility and a related lack of personal agency on 'the left'.
  - croisillon 10mo ago
    > 'the right' tending to voice support for punishing those who commit vices the right spends a lot of time defending a corrupt pedophile ordering invasions and murders, isn't it curious?

poszlem 10mo ago

Isn't "jab" just another word for "an injection" not only "a vaccine"?

drbw 10mo ago
In the UK, yes.

smelendez 10mo ago

Jabs is basically the British equivalent of the American term shots.

RowanH 10mo ago
Yes. Queens English countries it's the phrase used (New Zealand - that's what we use).
al_borland 10mo ago
Interesting. I’m so used to only hearing it from people about to rant about vaccine mandates, which has given it quite the negative connotation (for me) on this side of the pond.

elzbardico 10mo ago

Sometimes it is not malicious language. There's a trend in modern journalism towards colloquial, imprecise language that in itself is a reaction to decreasing reading abilities and vocabulary in the general population, as we are now in the descending slope of the Flynn's effect curve. Also, a journalist nowadays is evaluated as a professional basically by the amount of pageviews he can harvest. There's a strong incentive towards clickbait language.

dkdcio 10mo ago
in this case they’re just British mate

stevekemp 10mo ago

If it had been BBC Scotland you might have seen "jags" instead.

Aurornis 10mo ago

If this was a US-based journalist I’d agree, but the term doesn’t carry the same connotations for the BBC’s home audience

montgomery_r 10mo ago

English pedant and RP speaker here. Jabs is a colloquialism in British English, but the BBC website is riddled with grammatical and vocabulary errors daily and rarely rises above a secondary (high school) reading level.

dtf 10mo ago

While "jab" is used almost universally across UK print and broadcast media to describe an injection, it's interesting to note the choice of accompanying adjective. The Sun, The Telegraph, Daily Mail and The Times love to use "fat jab". The BBC, The Guardian and The Mirror seem to prefer "slimming jab" or "weight-loss jab". There's a lot to digest in those choices.

hagbard_c 10mo ago
It is just the usual vice vs. virtue approach to things where 'the right' tends to point at vices which are in need of curtailing while 'the left' points at the virtue in those turning away from such vices. This also relates closely to 'the right' tending to voice support for punishing those who commit vices in some way while 'the left' voices support for rewarding those who turn away from committing them. Deeper down it points down to the preference for personal agency and responsibility on 'the right' versus collective responsibility and a related lack of personal agency on 'the left'.
- croisillon 10mo ago
  > 'the right' tending to voice support for punishing those who commit vices the right spends a lot of time defending a corrupt pedophile ordering invasions and murders, isn't it curious?