Interview on the NPR show “On the Media” about the linguistic myths surrounding Walter Cronkite.
Did you know that Walter Cronkite is so identified with the news business that in Sweden an anchorman is called a “Kronkiter”? And speaking of anchorman, did you know that word was coined in the 1950s to define Cronkite’s role on broadcast TV? Neither did we. Perhaps because none of it is true. Ben Zimmer, executive producer of the Visual Thesaurus, traced some of the myths surrounding the man who was once the most trusted in America.
(Show page, transcript, audio, related Word Routes column, related Slate article)