I’m speaking of Variety the magazine and website, not variety "the quality or condition of being various".

The main reason I hate it is because of the pompus arrogance that oozes from the "Hollywood jargon" used in the articles.

Over the last few months, I’ve rolled my eyes at the following unnecessary jargon in Variety articles:

"Skedded": Scheduled (example: "Sony priced the PS3 below its production costs during its startup period and production delays caused a slower-than-skedded rollout in key territories.")

"The Alphabet": ABC Network (example:"As web heads and industry insiders geared up for Day 2 of upfront madness with Tuesday’s presentations from ABC, speculation centered on where the Alphabet might deploy its most potent new weapon, "Grey’s Anatomy" spinoff "Private Practice.")

"lensing": filming (example: "Husband-wife directing team Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin are set to begin lensing in late July in Australia from their adapted screenplay."

"Prexy": President (example:"Grass, who joins the studio in October, will be prexy of production for Universal Pictures Intl. Move comes as U ramps up its worldwide acquisitions and local-language productions in a bid for the growing overseas market.")

Just take a look at the foreward for the site’s "Slanguage" dictionary (GRRRR!) to get an idea of how much of a clique these guys are trying to force themselves to be.

I can understand why and how an industry publication that’s not meant to be viewed by the general public would adopt certain jargon. And the fact is Variety is an industry publication, despite the fact that its website has thrown it more into the public eye. Nevertheless, the opening paragraph in the "Slanguage Dictionary" (RAAAAR!) shows just how much the magazine tried to shoehorn itself to be an "in the know" exclusive trade publication that normal people just won’t "get". Most industry jargon develops naturally, be it through the need for brevity or some other reason. But to adopt such arrogant language simply because you want your magazine to be an insider-only publication. . . to alienate the general public just because you can . . . that’s just stupid.

In the "Slanguage" dictionary (Hulk smash!), they even mention how they adopted jargon to shorten headlines…but some of the jargon is LONGER than or just as long as the original word or words it replaces.

But the arrogant jargon isn’t the worst thing about Variety. What really chafes my chaps* is when the writer of the article completely abandons propper grammar and sentence structure for NO REASON. . . to wit:

"Grass, who joins the studio in October, will be prexy of production for Universal Pictures Intl. Move comes as U ramps up its worldwide acquisitions and local-language productions in a bid for the growing overseas market."

The unnecessary dropping of an article from a sentence is journalistic sloppiness, done simply to sound trendy.

Does anyone else agree with me, or am I being stupid?

*Note: I do not now, nor have I ever owned chaps. But I’m a sucker for aliteration.