Pointing the Finger of Dumbness at Myself
By In my last post, I made a big show of correcting the term “whispering campaign,” a term that–I recently learned–did not need correcting. Apparently the term “whispering campaign” is legit. Not only that, it’s used quite commonly.
This was a surprise to me, as I had literally never heard the term “whispering campaign” before, whereas I had heard the term “whisper campaign” several times. What’s more, I had probably heard the term used more often in sort of the advertising sense…in which a whisper campaign is used to plant an idea or build up a person or product.
While I’m sure this is all riveting to you all, I want you to stay with me…and pedants here’s where you can shine. I have a few questions:
1.) Which came first? “whisper campaign” or “whispering campaign?” Which is a bastardization of which?
2.) Is there a preferred usage?
3.) Which do you use? Which do you prefer?
4.) Will I stop feeling like a big dum-dum soon?