I’ve been meaning to write this article for a long time. It’s a huge pet peeve of mine. It’s people who use the word “tape” instead of “record.” 

And some of these offenders are actually in the TV and movie production industry. And in the media.

They are professionals who should know better. 

Tsk, tsk.

So newsflash to the older folks out there who can’t give up the ghost: We don’t tape things anymore. We record them.

This pet peeve of mine is right up there with people who still double space their sentences when typing. 

Give it up, people. You should have stopped doing that more than ten years ago. Now that we use computers instead of typewriters, we have justification and we can change point sizes, kerning and spacing on a whim. Stop it. Stop it now.

But I digress…

So I’ve noticed that a lot of the people who are still using the word “tape” are actually in television and movie production careers like our own harmless, lovable little fuzz-ball, TV broadcaster and radio host Steve Gruber.

Gruber used the word “tape” on October 28th, 2020. I documented the date for future use. I’m sure he’s probably done it again since that time, but I made sure to make note of the date for research purposes and in order for him to deny or explain his egregious offense.

It’s only when you can admit that there is a problem that you can start the recovery process.

However, Gruber is not alone. In the past year, I’ve heard the word “tape” come out of the mouth of Sean Hannity and other talk show hosts over and over again – and the media uses it all the time. 

If you Google the word “taping”  and then click on the news, you will find many offenders using the word to describe the recording of TV and movies currently in production.

I’m sure that the excuse from these offenders would be that the word “taping” is just a general verb meant to explain the recording of an event, not specifically how it is done.

However, Mirriam-Webster doesn’t say that. It says that taping is to record on tape and especially magnetic tape.

The Cambridge Dictionary concurs and describes “tape” as “to record something on tape.”

What say you, Steve?

I’ll give you the last word.