Newsweek: There You Go Again
Cidu Bill on Dec 15th 2008
Just a few pages past the less/fewer confusion in the current Newsweek, they give us this: “[This] forces physicians into a Hobson’s choice between providing patients with accurate medical information, and possible license suspension and misdemeanor charges.”
Which unfortunately is not at all what “a Hobson’s choice” means, though it’s true that a number of people (including Newsweek Contributing Editor Dahlia Lithwick) think it does.
And yes, this is important — because a verbal reference such as “Hobson’s choice”has no value unless it means the same thing to everybody.
And just as a matter of principle, if one of the primary writers for a major national magazine makes this sort of mistake,a managing editor should spot and correct it.
Filed in Bill Bickel, Hobson's choice, Newsweek | 31 responses so far
