Such a lovely word; it just rolls off the tongue. It sounds Spanish or Italian. Imagine walking into Gino’s restaurant and telling the waiter, “I’ll have the innuendo on angel hair with two meatballs.” Interesting thing, it’s neither Spanish nor Italian; it comes from the Latin innuend, which means hint. A special recipe can be described as having just a hint of rosemary; which begs the question, how much is a hint? Would it be less than a pinch, a tad, or a bit?
Dropping a hint would be similar to planting a seed; it’s how rumors get started. Innuendos; hints strategically inserted into a recipe, a conversation, or the latest news, can subtly change perception, about the food, the gossip, or world affairs.
We’ve examined the recipe, so let’s move on to a conversation between a foursome for lunch. One diner says, “My neighbor says the market is gonna crash.” His companion asks, “Is Veronica getting fat or she pregnant?” From across the table, “The plant is going to downsize; I can feel it coming”. The clean-up eater (baseball metaphor) summarizes for the table, “Forget all that crap, I’m keeping my gun loaded, and under the pillow.” Just some innocent banter exchanged in a restaurant from noon until one o’clock. The well fed four will pass along those luncheon tidbits, to four other people within the next 30 minutes. Innuendo does not require accuracy, and in fact, encourages exaggeration. No harm, no foul, right?
Severe weather alert! Expert sources along the Florida coast are reporting that bright sunlight is causing sunburn on the shoulders and arms of tourists! For an update, let’s go to Blaze Raeburn in Miami Beach. Blaze? Rick, it’s a madhouse down here! Tourists are standing in line for hours to get one jar of Noxzema! Insiders have told us that Coppertone is sending emergency tractor-trailers to help the local citizenry deal with this burning issue! We have an unconfirmed leak from the governor’s office that an order has been issued to scramble every available jet bomber; their mission, to fire their rockets at the sun in the hope of diminishing its harmful rays! The governor plans to visit the ravaged area as soon as he returns from his fact-finding tour in Honolulu. Back to you Rick.
News 24/7! There is no such thing as a slow news day! Modern-day reporting emerges as high drama. A high-speed car chase in Los Angeles could last for hours; a school shooting always brings out the tactical police squads. A 3 o’clock news conference will find the mayor and police chief taking questions from on the scene reporters. Routine stuff; no big deal.
How about a hurricane? Better yet, a major flood! Disasters, now we’re talking! These will require TEAM COVERAGE; a major anchor in the news center studio, with reporters in the field, wearing windbreakers, and talking to survivors. Asking questions like, “Linda, your home is destroyed; you lost everything; tell us how you feel right now.” A microphone is thrust into the face of a sobbing Linda, and remains there until she says something, anything. Back at the anchor desk, the viewers are assured that the network will stay on this for as long as it takes. That’s the kind of crack reporting we receive from TEAM COVERAGE!
Sorry, I got off track there: The “breaking news” banner flashing across the screen diverted my attention. Let’s revisit innuendo as it applies to the media; in particular television. Innuendo comes from sources that are: within the White House, State Department, Pentagon, or the McDonalds on K St. These sources are always reliable; their information always credible and they deal exclusively with only one network. ABC, Fox, and CNN et al. seem to have these news moles working behind the scenes, gathering secret data for the news anchors at the aforementioned networks.
To interpret the innuendo, bring on the talking heads! These scions of authority and experience are called on by the anchor hosts to clarify, interpret, and sometimes argue about the subject just presented. We, the viewing public, watch the screen with “gee whiz” awe, while the experts share their expertise with the common folk.
Here’s a thought. We scrap the talking heads, the five-member round-table chat groups, and the one hour star driven (O’Reilly, Blitzer, Hannity, etc.) shows and return to a simpler format. Harken back to the days of Huntley and Brinkley, and Walter Cronkite. I’d like to see news, just news from 6 PM to midnight; without opinion, interpretation or innuendo. The remaining 18 hours would run classic movies without commercial interruption.
Let’s have a show of hands!