I heard it again recently—a news report about a ‘collision’ between a car and a tree.
I was reminded at once of an old journalist I once worked with who insisted that ‘collision’ could only be used if both objects were in motion.
If only one of them was moving, he would insist, it was not a collision.
And he’s not the only one.
As recently as 2015 the New York Times Manual of Style and Usage insisted that “only two objects in motion can collide.”
In fact, this is one of the most persistent myths in journalism—that ‘collision’ can’t be used when a car, travelling at high speed, hits a tree (which was just standing still, minding its own business).
In fact, the most confident (or smart alec) journalists will insist there’s another word that should be used instead— ‘allision.’
And they are perfectly correct that the word ‘allision’ exists and has been used (since 1615) to mean ‘the action of striking something against something else.’
Mind you, if we wrote a story about the ‘allision’ between a car and a tree we would confuse most of our readers and listeners—and fail to convey that there had been an accident at all.
To be honest, ‘allision’ is no longer a common word, and is used these days almost exclusively in maritime law.
So, when a cargo vessel in the North Sea ran into an oil tanker that was anchored and motionless—it would be accurate to say the vessels were in an ‘allision’ rather than a ’collision.’
Some sources, particularly those of a maritime nature, insist that contact between a moving body and a stationary one should only be described with this word ‘allision.’
But this whole war against the honest little word ‘collision’ looks a bit suss to me.
In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary insists that ‘collision’ means simply: ‘The action or an act of colliding with or crashing into something or someone’—and that certainly covers the car hitting the tree.
And, the Oxford adds, that in later use ‘collision’ is used to mean ‘an accident involving a moving vehicle colliding with or crashing into another (moving or stationary) vehicle, object, etc.’
Notice that it says, ‘moving or stationary.’
And the great American dictionary, the Merriam-Webster, agrees, saying ‘collision and collide are commonly used to refer to such matters as a ship striking a stationary object, and there is nothing incorrect about such use.’
So I think it’s time those old journos stop nagging the kids about this one.
Those over confident old blokes were wrong all the time!
Tonight I will be a panellist on "The Sunday Showdown" on Sky News (8pm AEDT).
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The March-April issue of Australian Geographic is out now (with the curlew on the cover) -- inside are my two small columns on 'Placenames' and 'Ozwords'.
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
I have just taken part in Jenny Wheeler's podcast "The Joys of Binge Reading." You can listen to the conversation here:
https://thejoysofbingereading.com/kel-richards-country-house-mysteries/
I have signed the anti-Semitism pledge, and I encourage you to do the same. You can sign the letter here: www.saynotoantisemitism.org
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
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* My latest book is -- "Defending the Gospel" (second, fully revised, edition). You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
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