Published September 20, 2024

When I read or hear “individual” in journalism, as in “police described the individual” a certain way, I just assume police language is being parroted reflexively by reporters so conditioned to doing so that they don’t realize it.

I prefer “person” to “individual” in much the same way I prefer “buy” to “purchase,” “find” to “locate,” “use” to “utilize” and other similar examples when the plain-language version would do. It’s my educated guess that people like to use the fancy word to make things sound more important. A predawn vertical insertion is still an invasion, unless it’s a practice invasion.

What are your thoughts when you see “individual” when “person” would be fine? What are your thoughts after reading this? Do you think, “Wow, Carly is an individual in need of a life”?

A version of this post first appeared on LinkedIn. Editing tips here are mine unless noted.

Image of blocks spelling journalism by Polarpx via Shutterstock.