Le mot juste
I'm driving to work and listening to NPR. Because swearing takes a lot of my attention while I drive these days, I miss the full context of the current news story. Something, I believe, about a large group of immigrants making their way over the border from Mexico, only to immediately turn themselves in to American authorities.
The newscaster in the studio is talking to a reporter on the scene.
"Allison, I've been calling this 'a situation'; help me be more precise. Should I be calling it 'a crisis'? Something else?"
"Well, Bill, I think it could be called 'an ongoing situation' and yesterday, it was really 'an event'."
We are now officially living in Will Eno'sTragedy: a tragedy.