Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9412010097
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
N.N.
A: "Carjack" may not be an official word; it does not appear in either of the two dictionaries that word experts at this newspaper consider authoritative.
However, "carjacking" is a useful word; it has appeared in the paper 145 times the past three years.
It's a legal word, too.
Carjacking is now in the state code. The General Assembly made it a felony this year.
But your point is, why aren't cars hijacked?
Because "carjacking" is a perfectly descriptive word for what happens when someone with a gun commandeers a personal vehicle.
"Hijacking" originally referred to highway robbers who seized truck cargo at gunpoint. It's not exactly clear what inspired the coinage of hijacking.
Did a thug with a gun back in the early '20s say, "Stick 'em up high, Jack," to a truck driver?
Was it because highwaymen hunted at night with a jacklight lamp? Or was it because a truckload got "jacked up?"
``Hijack'' now describes takeovers of ships and airplanes.
The term "skyjacked" was used widely in the '60s. Apparently we've decided "hijacked" is better because it's been around longer and is recognized instantly.
Bill Meck's degrees
Q: I noticed the newspaper's InfoLine directory recently described Bill Meck of WSLS-TV as a meteorologist. It's my understanding he is not. Perhaps the newspaper should do some checking on this.
N.N.
A: Bill Meck, Channel 10's weather forecaster, has a journalism degree from Iowa State University, where he also took 20 or more hours of meteorology classes.
Those classes, plus three years of work in the weather field, meet the general guideline for calling someone a meteorologist, according to the American Meteorological Society.
Meck is accredited by the National Weather Association, a group that awards a seal to weather broadcasters who meet its standards.
Meck does not have the American Meteorological Society's seal of approval, but he said he's applying for it.
Unlike lawyers and accountants, meteorologists and journalists don't have to pass an exam to earn their job titles.
There's no legal definition for a meteorologist.
Anyone, in principle, can call himself or herself a meteorologist, a spokesman at the American Meteorological Society said.|
Got a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.
by CNB