Bus Plunge Journalese

Headline to an article about the third reactor explosion in Japan: “Spewing radiation prompts warning.” C’mon, journalists, does radiation always have to spew?  Can’t it emanate, spread, propagate, or otherwise pour into the atmosphere?  Why must it spew? When Nevil Shute wrote On the Beach, did he make his radiation spew?  No, he didn’t, and […]