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Springer Atmospheric Sciences

Abdelwaheb Hannachi

Patterns
Identification
and Data Mining
in Weather and
Climate
Springer Atmospheric Sciences
The Springer Atmospheric Sciences series seeks to publish a broad portfolio
of scientific books, aiming at researchers, students, and everyone interested in
this interdisciplinary field. The series includes peer-reviewed monographs, edited
volumes, textbooks, and conference proceedings. It covers the entire area of
atmospheric sciences including, but not limited to, Meteorology, Climatology,
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Aeronomy, Planetary Science, and related
subjects.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10176

Abdelwaheb Hannachi

Patterns Identification
and Data Mining in Weather
and Climate
Abdelwaheb Hannachi
Department of Meteorology, MISU
Stockholm University
Stockholm, Sweden

ISSN 2194-5217 ISSN 2194-5225 (electronic)

Springer Atmospheric Sciences
ISBN 978-3-030-67072-6 ISBN 978-3-030-67073-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67073-3

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
To the memory of my father and mother who
taught me big principles, and to my little
family Houda, Badr, Zeid and Ahmed for
their patience.
Preface

Weather and climate is a fascinating system, which affects our daily lives, and is
closely interlinked with the environment, society and infrastructure. They have large
impact on our lives and activities, climate change being a typical example. It is a
high-dimensional highly complex system involving nonlinear interactions between
very many modes or degrees of freedom. This made weather and climate look
mysterious in ancient societies. Complex high-dimensional systems are difficult to
comprehend by our three-dimensional concept of the physical world. Humans have
sought out patterns in order to describe the working world around us. This task,
however, proved difficult and challenging.
In the climate context, the quest to identify patterns is driven by the desire to
find structures embedded in state space, which can lead to a better understanding
of the system dynamics, and eventually learn its behaviour and predict its future
state. With the advent of computers and observing systems, massive amounts of data
from the atmosphere and ocean are obtained, which beg for exploration and analysis.
Pattern identification in atmospheric science has a long history. It began in the 1920s
with Gilbert Walker, who identified the southern oscillation and the atmospheric
component of ENSO teleconnection, although the latter concept seems to have been
mentioned for the first time by Ångström in the mid-1930s. The correlation analysis
of Gilbert Walker used to identify the southern oscillation is akin to the iterative
algorithm used to compute empirical orthogonal functions. However, the earliest
known eigenanalysis in atmospheric science goes back to the time of the previous
USSR school by Obukhov and Bagrov around the late 1940s and early 1950s,
respectively. But it was Ed. Lorenz who coined the term ‘empirical orthogonal
functions’ (EOFs) in the mid-1950s. Since then, research on the topic has been
expanding, and a number of textbooks have been written, notably by Preisendorfer
in the late 1980s, followed by texts by Thiebaux, and von Storch and Zwiers about
a decade later, and another one by Jolliffe in the early 2000s. These texts did an
excellent job in presenting the theory and methods, particularly those related to
eigenvalue problems in meteorology and oceanography.
Weather and climate data analysis has witnessed a fast growth in the last few
decades both in terms of methods and applications. This growth was driven by the

vii
viii Preface

need to analyse and interpret the fast-growing volume of climate data using both
linear and nonlinear methods. In this book, I attempt to give an up-to-date text by
presenting linear and nonlinear methods that have been developed in the last two
decades, in addition to including conventional ones.
The text is composed of 17 chapters. Apart from the first two introductory and
setting up chapters, the remaining 15 chapters present the different methods used to
analyse spatio-temporal data from atmospheric science and oceanography. The EOF
method, a cornerstone of eigenvalue problems in meteorology and oceanography, is
presented in Chap. 3. The next four chapters present derivatives of EOFs, including
eigenvalue problems involved the identification of propagating features. A whole
chapter is devoted to predictability and predictable patterns, and another one on
multidimensional scaling, which discusses various dissimilarity measures used in
pattern identification, followed by a chapter on factor analysis. Nonlinear methods
of space-time pattern identification, with different perspectives, are presented in the
next three chapters. The previous chapters deal essentially with discrete gridded
data, as is usually the case, with no explicit discussion of the continuous case, such
as curves or surfaces. This topic is presented and discussed in the next chapter.
Another whole chapter is devoted to presenting and discussing the topic of coupled
patterns using conventional and newly developed approaches. A number of other
methods are not presented in the previous chapters. Those methods are collected
and presented in the penultimate chapter. Finally, and to take into account the recent
interest in automatic methods, the last chapter presents and discusses few commonly
used methods in machine learning. To make it as a stand-alone text, a number of
technical appendices are given at the end of the book.
This book can be used in teaching data analysis in atmospheric science, or
other topics such as advanced statistical methods in climate research. Apart from
Chap. 15, in the context of coupled patterns and regression, and Appendix C, I
did not discuss explicitly statistical modelling/inference. This topic of statistical
inference in climate science is covered in a number of other books reported in
the reference list. To help students and young researchers in the field explore the
topics, I have included a number of small exercises, with hints, embedded within
the different chapters, in addition to some basic skeleton Matlab codes for some
basic methods. Full Matlab codes can be obtained from the author upon request.
A list of software links is also given at the end of the book.

Stockholm, Sweden Abdelwaheb Hannachi

Pattern Identification and Data Mining in
Weather and Climate

Complexity, nonlinearity and high-dimensionality constitute the main characteristic

features of the weather and climate dynamical system. Advances in computer
power and observing systems have led to the generation and accumulation of
large-scale weather and climate data, which beg for exploration and analysis.
Pattern Identification and Data Mining in Weather and Climate presents, from
different perspectives, most available, novel and conventional, approaches used
to analyse multivariate time series in atmospheric and oceanographic science to
identify patterns of variability, teleconnections, and reduce dimensionality. The
book discusses in detail linear and nonlinear methods to identify stationary and
propagating patterns of spatio-temporal, single and combined fields. The book also
presents machine learning with a particular focus on the main methods used in
climate science. Applications to real atmospheric and oceanographic examples are
also presented and discussed in most chapters. To help guide students and beginners
in the field of weather and climate data analysis, basic Matlab skeleton codes are
given is some chapters, complemented with a list of software links towards the end
of the textbook. A number of technical appendices are also provided, making the
text particularly suitable for didactic purposes.
Abdelwaheb Hannachi is associate professor in the Department of Meteorol-
ogy at Stockholm University, MISU. He currently serves as editor-in-chief of
Tellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography. Abdel teaches a number of
undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including dynamic meteorology, statistical
climatology, numerical weather prediction and data assimilation, and boundary
layer turbulence. His main research interests are large-scale dynamics, teleconnec-
tions, nonlinearity in weather and climate, in addition to extremes and forecasting.

ix
Over the last few decades, we have amassed an enormous amount of weather and climate
data of which we have to make sense now. Pattern identification methods and modern data
mining approaches are essential in better understanding how the atmosphere and the climate
system works. These topics are not traditionally taught in meteorology programmes. This
book will prove a valuable source for students as well as active researchers interested
in these topics. The book provides a broad overview over modern pattern identification
methods and an introduction to machine learning.
– Christian Franzke, ICCP, Pusan National University
The topic of EOFs and associated pattern identification in space-time data sets has gone
through an extraordinary fast development, both in terms of new insights and the breadth
of applications. For this reason, we need a text approximately every 10 years to summarize
the fields. Older texts by, for instance, Jolliffe and Preisendorfer need to be succeeded by
an up-to-date new text. We welcome this new text by Abdel Hannachi who not only has a
deep insight in the field but has himself made several contributions to new developments in
the last 15 years.
– Huug van den Dool, Climate Prediction Center, NCEP, College Park, MD
Now that weather and climate science is producing ever larger and richer data sets, the topic
of pattern extraction and interpretation has become an essential part. This book provides an
up-to-date overview of the latest techniques and developments in this area.
– Maarten Ambaum, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, UK
The text is very ambitious. It makes considerable effort to collect together a number
of classical methods for data analysis, as well as newly emerging ones addressing the
challenges of the modern huge data sets. There are not many books covering such a
wide spectrum of techniques. In this respect, the book is a valuable companion for many
researchers working in the field of climate/weather data analysis and mining. The author
deserves congratulations and encouragement for his enormous work.
– Nickolay Trendafilov, Open University, Milton Keynes
This nicely and expertly written book covers a lot of ground, ranging from classical
linear pattern identification techniques to more modern machine learning methodologies,
all illustrated with examples from weather and climate science. It will be very valuable both
as a tutorial for graduate and postgraduate students and as a reference text for researchers
and practitioners in the field.
– Frank Kwasniok, College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences,
University of Exeter

xi
We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within
themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth
Holy Quran Ch. 51, V. 53
Acknowledgements

This text is a collection of work I have been conducting over the years on weather
and climate data analysis, in collaboration with colleagues, complemented with
other methods from the literature. I am especially grateful to all my teachers,
colleagues and students, who contributed directly or indirectly to this work. I would
like to thank, in particular, Zoubeida Bargaoui, Bernard Legras, Keith Haines, Ian
Jolliffe, David B. Stephenson, Nickolay Trendafilov, Christian Franzke, Thomas
Önskog, Carlos Pires, Tim Woollings, Klaus Fraedrich, Toshihiko Hirooka, Grant
Branstator, Lesley Gray, Alan O’Neill, Waheed Iqbal, Andrew Turner, Andy Heaps,
Amro Elfeki, Ahmed El-Hames, Huug van den Dool, Léon Chafik and all my MISU
colleagues, and many other colleagues I did not mention by name. I acknowledge the
support of Stockholm University and the Springer team, in particular Robert Doe,
executive editor, and Neelofar Yasmeen, production coordinator, for their support
and encouragement.

xiii
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
“Two sub-heads or none” is the rule in some offices. A sub-head is
based on the paragraph immediately following.

CAPITALIZATION
Type, in the printer’s vernacular, is upper case (capital letters) and
lower case (small letters). A word that is capitalized is said to go up.
A word not capitalized is put down. When both capitals and small
letters are used in a line, it is said to be in caps and lower case
(abbreviated l. c.). A line set in capitals is all caps.

The general practice is to capitalize all nouns, pronouns,

adjectives, verbs, adverbs and interjections in the head, as in the
title of a book or play. This is a detail left to the compositor, who is
guided by the newspaper’s typographical style.
 CHAPTER XIV

DON’TS FOR THE NEWS WRITER

A vast deal of the slipshod and prolix stuff which we are

compelled to read or to listen to is, of course, born of idleness.
When, as so often happens, a man takes an hour to say what
might have been as well or better said in twenty minutes, or
spreads over twenty pages what could easily have been
exhausted in ten, the offense in a large majority of cases is due,
not so much to vanity, or to indifference to the feelings of
others, as to inability or unwillingness to take pains.—From an
address, “Culture and Character,” delivered before the University
of Aberdeen by the Right Honorable H. H. Asquith.

The following list of “Don’ts” has been compiled from a

considerable experience in reading newspaper copy and in directing
the work of students in journalism classes. Practical application is
made of some of the principles discussed in preceding chapters:

1. Don’t think it necessary to call a child a “tot.”

2. Don’t hesitate to repeat a name for the sake of clearness. Too

many personal pronouns lead to confusion.

3. Don’t say a wedding “occurred.” Things occur unexpectedly;

they take place by design.

4. Don’t use “loan” as a verb. The verb is “lend.”

5. Don’t say “Smith graduated,” but “Smith was graduated.” A

school graduates its pupils; they are graduated.
 6. Don’t say “a number of” when you can avoid it. Nothing could
be more vague. Try to give the exact number or at least an
approximation. “Several” is usually better than “a number of.”

7. Don’t advertise a particular revolver or other manufactured

article by naming it in your story, except for special cause, as when
this information may furnish a clew to a person’s identity. Also it is
seldom desirable to give the caliber of a firearm.

8. Don’t use “amateur” when you mean “novice.” An amateur is

not necessarily unskilled; he is simply not a professional. An
unskilled beginner is a novice.

9. Don’t make the mistake that appeared in this published

headline: “Audience of 5,000 See Aëroplane Flight.” An audience
hears; spectators see.

10. Don’t spell “forward,” “backward,” “toward,” “homeward” and

similar words with a final “s.”

11. Don’t use stories that are not fit for any member of any family
to read. If a mob makes such a demonstration against a man
accused of criminal assault that the story has to be covered for that
feature, a mere hint will be sufficient to cover the revolting part.—
From the St. Louis Star Style-Book.

12. Don’t use “burglarize.” The dictionary contains no such word.

13. Don’t say “he had his arm cut off.” That means literally that he
got someone to perform the operation of cutting off his arm. Say, in
case of accident, “his arm was cut off.”

14. Don’t say “Smith sustained an injury.” To sustain is to bear up.

Say he “suffered an injury.”

15. Don’t use “over” in the sense of “more than.” Say “more than
300 persons heard the lecture.”
 16. Don’t use “party” for “person.” “Party,” outside of legal
documents, means a group of persons.

17. Don’t leave out essential words, trusting that the copy reader
will be able to guess what you mean. The omission of the little word
“not” may cause serious trouble. Whenever possible go over your
story carefully before turning it in.

18. Don’t use a word in different senses in the same paragraph.

19. Don’t use “state” for “say.” A statement is formal. Most

persons merely say they are going fishing.

20. Don’t divide a word at the end of a page.

21. Don’t fail to read your story in print and note the changes that
have been made. Don’t make the same mistake twice.

22. Don’t use “purchase” for “buy,” “remainder” for “rest,”

“portion” for “part” or any long word when a short one can be
found.—From the Springfield (Mass.) Republican Rules.

23. Don’t confuse “beside” and “besides.” “Beside” is never

anything except a preposition; “besides” can also be used as an
adverb, in the sense of moreover.

24. Don’t use “female” for “woman.”

25. Don’t confuse “plurality” and “majority.” A winner in an

election has a plurality over his nearest opponent; he has a majority
if his vote exceeds the combined vote of his opponents.

26. Don’t use two or more words where one will do as well, as
“put in an appearance” for “appear.”

27. Don’t overwork the word “secure.” It is often loosely used

where “get,” “obtain,” “procure,” “collect” or some other word would
more exactly express the thought.

28. Don’t say “tried an experiment.” Experiments are made.

29. Don’t say “the above statement.” “Above” is an adverb;

“foregoing” is the right word here. You wouldn’t write “the below
statement.”

30. Don’t say “at the corner of Ninth street and Broadway.” “At
Ninth street and Broadway” is sufficient unless you desire to specify
one of the four corners.

31. Don’t use “suicide” as a verb. Say “he killed himself” and tell
how.

32. Don’t use a foreign word or phrase when English will answer
the purpose—and it nearly always will. “A dollar a day” is better than
“a dollar per diem.” Don’t mix languages, as in “a dollar per day.”

33. Don’t say “fifty people were present.” Use “persons.” “People,”
according to Webster’s Dictionary, means primarily “the body of
persons who compose a community, tribe, nation or race; an
aggregate of individuals forming a whole; a community; a nation”—
as “the people of the United States.” “Persons” refers to individuals.

34. Don’t say “united in marriage” or “joined in the holy bonds of

matrimony.” Say they were “married.”

35. Don’t use “depot” when you mean “station.” A depot is a

storehouse for freight or supplies; railway passengers arrive at a
station.

36. Don’t call a fire a “holocaust” or a “conflagration” unless

circumstances warrant. Consult the dictionary.

37. Don’t call the wife of Dr. Jones “Mrs. Dr. Jones.” She is simply
Mrs. Jones. A woman does not gain a title by virtue of her husband’s
rank or profession.

38. Don’t make a practice of using a man’s occupation as a title,

as in “Barber Smith.” He is “Smith, a barber.” Certain exceptions are
permitted by most newspapers, as in “Policeman Riley.”

39. Don’t fall into the habit of describing every bride as “blushing,”
or every five-dollar bill as “crisp” or every gold piece as “bright,
new.”

40. Don’t say “among those present were ... and others.” Leave
out “and others.”

41. Don’t tell the reader “this is a pathetic story.” If it is, he will
find it out for himself.

42. Don’t overwork “well-known” and “prominent.” In revolt

against a long line of “well-known grocers” and “prominent saloon
keepers,” some newspapers have prohibited the use of these words
altogether in referring to persons. It is always better to identify your
characters specifically. Tell how a man is prominent.

43. Don’t say “Jones was present at the meeting and spoke.” Of
course he was present. Simply say he spoke.

44. Don’t call a dog a “canine.” “Canine” is an adjective. You

wouldn’t call a cow a “bovine.”

45. Don’t call a body found in a stream a “floater.”

46. Don’t use “lady” for “woman” under the impression that you
are paying a compliment. “Woman” is a good, stanch word at which
no real woman can take offense.

47. Don’t write anything in violation of confidence.

 48. Don’t say “an old man 80 years of age.” It’s sufficient to say
that he is “80 years old.”

49. Don’t say “5 o’clock P. M. yesterday afternoon.” Say either “5 P.

M. yesterday” or “5 o’clock yesterday afternoon,” according to the
style of your paper.

50. Don’t write “at an early hour this morning” when “early this
morning” will do as well.

51. Don’t say “completely destroyed.” “Destroyed” is sufficient.

52. Don’t say “he was presented with a gold cane.” “A gold cane
was presented to him” is the correct form.

53. Don’t say “the money was divided between Smith, Jones and
Brown.” It was divided among them. Use “between” in reference to
two only.

54. Don’t overwork “that.” Some newspapers favor its omission in

indirect discourse when the meaning is plain without it, as in the
sentence: “He said (that) John was his friend.” Never omit, however,
at the sacrifice of clearness.

55. Don’t call every girl pretty. If a girl is pretty, you are usually
justified in telling something more about her.

56. Don’t say “less than fifty persons were there.” Use “fewer.”
“Less” refers to quantity, “fewer” to numbers.

57. Don’t make a collective noun plural unless you mean to convey
the idea of plurality. The word “audience” is singular when you mean
the audience as a unit. It is plural when you have in mind the
individuals that compose the audience, as “the audience waved their
hats.”

58. Don’t call a policeman a “minion of the law.”

 59. Don’t use “enthuse.” There is no such word.

60. Don’t waste your energy on trivialities.

61. Don’t use “illy” for “ill,” which may be either adjective or
adverb. “Illy” does not exist in good usage.

62. Don’t overwork “very.” Through abuse the word has lost much,
if not all, of its force. “He’s a very good man,” as spoken, usually
gives the idea that he is only passably good. “He’s a good man” is
stronger. Be sparing in the use of superlatives.

63. Don’t use dialect to the disparagement of any nationality.

Don’t use it at all unless you are sure of your ground.

64. Don’t color your story with modifying words that imply
approval or disapproval.

65. Don’t write 300 words when you are told to keep your story
within 100.

66. Don’t say “at the present time.” Say “at present” or “now.”

67. Don’t say “Miss Smith presided at the piano.” She merely
played the piano.

68. Don’t say that “this town was thrown into a state of great
excitement,” “business was entirely suspended,” “a great sensation
was created,” or any other of the conventional things. They are
usually untrue and never interesting.—From the Chicago Record-
Herald’s Instructions to Correspondents.

69. Don’t speak of “tasty” decorations. They are tasteful.

70. Don’t fall into a groove in sentence building. Seek variety. A

series of three or four sentences each beginning with “the” is
monotonous.
 71. Don’t begin a story with “there is” when you can find a better
way.

72. Don’t try to show superior knowledge by writing above the

heads of your readers. News writing should express, not conceal,
thought. Leave stilted phrases for the campaign orator.

73. Don’t use technical terms that are not generally understood.

74. Don’t say “he plead guilty.” The past tense of “plead” is
“pleaded.”

75. Don’t use “further” referring to distance; the right word here is
“farther,” as “a mile farther east.” “Further” should be used in other
senses, as “further, he said, etc.”

76. Don’t say “partially” for “partly.” “Partially” means with

prejudice. A building is partly of brick.

77. Don’t use an abbreviation that can be misunderstood.

78. Don’t say “a man by (or of) the name of Smith.” Say “a man
named Smith.”

79. Don’t confuse the words “prohibition” and “temperance.”

80. Don’t say “the then governor.” “Then” is an adverb.

81. Don’t begin a sentence with figures. Spell out, or re-cast the
sentence.

82. Don’t say “his whereabouts are unknown.” “Whereabouts” is

singular; so also “politics.”

83. Don’t say “in our midst.”

84. Don’t use “inaugurate” for “begin.” A movement is begun; a

president is inaugurated.
 85. Don’t abbreviate names, as “Geo.” for “George,” “Jno.” for
“John,” etc.

86. Don’t contract “all right” to “alright.” There is a good word

“already” (not of the same meaning, however, as “all ready”) but
“alright” has no justification.

87. Don’t say “one of the most unique.” “Unique” expresses an

absolute condition; it has no degrees.

88. Don’t use an apostrophe before the “s” in “its” (possessive of

“it”), “hers,” “ours,” “yours,” “theirs.” “It’s” means “it is.”

89. Don’t use “don’t” when you mean “doesn’t.” Be careful to

place the apostrophe between the “n” and the “t.”

90. Don’t call every little flurry a panic.

91. Don’t write “capitol” when you mean the seat of government—
the city. The building is the capitol; Washington is the capital of the
United States.

92. Don’t say “he walked a distance of a mile.” Omit “a distance

of.”

93. Don’t begin your story with a general statement such as “a

terrible accident occurred last night.” Tell what really happened.

94. Don’t forget to use quotation marks at the end of quoted

matter.

95. Don’t write it variously “street,” “Street” and “st.” Find out the
style of your paper and stick to it if you would gain the good will of
the copy reader.

96. Don’t try to save money for the office by crowding your copy
on a sheet without margins. Leave plenty of white space at the top
and the bottom so the sheets can be pasted together.

97. Don’t say “he secured a position as janitor.” Most persons

simply get jobs.

98. Don’t make the mistake of the reporter who wrote of a “three-
cornered duel.” A duel (from the Latin duo) is a fight between two
persons.

99. Don’t speak of a climate as “healthy.” Persons are healthy,

places healthful.

100. Don’t use “gentleman” for “man.” “Gents” is atrocious.

 CHAPTER XV

NEWSPAPER BROMIDES

Contrary to the opinions of many, the newspaper has saved

its readers from that modern perversion of our already forcible
English, slang. It has pruned its language of affectation, fine
writing and indiscriminate and excessive use of adjectives.—
From an address by the Rev. William B. Norton, of Evanston, Ill.,
as reported by the Chicago Evening Post.

If a reporter is lazy or inclined to “fine writing” he has only to

reach into the grab-box of his memory to draw out a word or
phrase, all ready to his hand, that seems to suit the occasion. Was
the horse running fast? Then it was going at “breakneck speed.” Did
the young woman who was pulled out of the river fall in love with
her rescuer? Then “her gratitude melted into love.” It was the “old,
old story.” She became his “blushing bride” and the news of the
marriage was to the discarded suitor “like a bolt from a clear sky.” “A
host of friends” attended the “nuptials” and the “happy couple” were
“showered with congratulations.”

Handy, cut-and-dried expressions will creep into copy unless the

reporter is always on the alert to find the right word. Many of the
figures of speech in this category doubtless possessed charm and
piquancy at one time, but through long usage they have sunk to a
meaningless level. They have become part of the stock in trade of
the “fine writer,” who seeks to confound the reader with large words.
Other words and phrases are merely trivial or in poor taste. The
news writer should study to fit his words exactly to the meaning he
intends to convey, instead of lazily giving way to the temptation to
draw on a ready-made stock.
 “Bromides” is the name given by the newspaper man to this stock
of handy expressions. The term is thus defined in a bulletin issued
by a metropolitan newspaper for its copy readers: “A bromide, in a
newspaper office, is a word, phrase or expression, or turn of style,
that is especially lacking in originality—overworked, hackneyed—a
‘chestnut.’ The daily travail of the editor and the copy reader is in
scouting for errors of grammar and skirmishing with inaccuracy and
awkwardness. But it is a massacre of libel; a war of extermination
against bromides.”

The following list of “bromides” includes both trite and grandiose

expressions which the news writer will do well to avoid and the copy
reader to eliminate if they are passed on to him. The list is intended
to be only suggestive of the evils of “bromidic” writing. It is far from
exhaustive. Almost any newspaper man could add similar
expressions which have come within his experience:
admiring friends

agent of death

ancestral domain

and many others

angry mob

arch culprit

avenging justice

battle-scarred veteran

beautiful and accomplished

bereaved widow

better half

beyond peradventure of a doubt

big mogul (locomotive)

bleeding, mangled form

blunt instrument

blushing bride

body of the deceased

bolt from a clear sky

bonds of matrimony
bosom of the briny deep

bourne from which no traveler returns

brand from the burning

breakneck speed

break the news gently

breathless silence

burden of bluecoats

burly negro

busy marts of trade

carnival of crime

catch of the season

caught like a rat in a trap

caught red-handed

certain party (for person)

challenge contradiction

checkered career

city bastile

city’s fair escutcheon

clutches of the law

commercial emporium
commercial emporium

conspicuous by his absence

contracting parties (in marriage)

conventional black

cool as a cucumber

cowering poltroon

crisp ten-dollar bill

crowded to its utmost capacity

culminated in the nuptials

cynosure of all eyes

Dan Cupid’s dart

dastardly assassin

day of reckoning

delicious refreshments

demure miss

devoted slave

devouring element

diabolical outrage

divine (for preacher)

divine passion
dull, corroding care

dull, sickening thud

durance vile

dusky damsel

downy couch

ebbing life blood

effected an entrance

eked out a bare existence

elegant creation

entered a state of coma

evening repast

exigencies of the occasion

extended heartfelt sympathy

facile pen

failed to materialize

fair sex

fair women and brave men

fateful words

feast of reason

feathered songster
fell design

festive occasion

fever heat

few and far between

fiery steed

first fall of the beautiful

fleeting breath

foeman worthy of his steel

for it was none other than he

formulated a design

fragrant Havana

frenzied finance

furtively secreting

gathered to his fathers

general public

genial boniface

gilded youth

goes without saying

grand old party

gratitude melted into love

gratitude melted into love

great beyond

grewsome spectacle

grim reaper

groaned under the weight of toothsome viands

hairbreadth escape

happy benedict

heartrending screams

hied himself

high dudgeon

high road to recovery

host of friends

human freight

hungry flames

hurled defiance

hymeneal altar

immaculate linen

in a clerical capacity

inclemency of the weather

inner circles of society

jury of his peers

kind and indulgent father

knights of the grip

large and enthusiastic audience

last but not least

late lamented

launched into eternity

leaden missile

light collation

lingering illness

lion of all social gatherings

little blind god

located his whereabouts

lodged in jail

long sleep (death)

lull before the storm

lurid flames

made good his escape

man of parts

maze of mystery
minions of the law

modicum of notoriety

mourned their loss

natty suit

neatly engraved invitations

neat sum

never in the history of

news leaked out

nice manners

nick of time

nipped in the bud

notorious crook and police character

old, old story (love)

oldest inhabitant

one fell swoop

one fine day

own inimitable way

pale as death

pangs of poverty

hi l f hi
phials of his scorn

piercing shriek of anguish

pillar of the church

police dragnet

populace was up in arms

portals of his living tomb

portent of evil

prepossessing appearance

present incumbent

presided at the piano

prominent (of persons)

public prints

put in an appearance

quiet home wedding

raging torrent

rash act

recipient of handsome and costly presents

remains (for body)

rendered a widow

ripe old age

rising young barrister

rooted to the spot

rumors are rife

rushed post haste

sacred edifice

sad rites

sad tidings

scene beggared description

seemed to spring from thin air

serious but not necessarily fatal

set the town agog

shook like a leaf

shorn of his accustomed affability

shrouded in mystery

silver-tongued orator

sixteen summers (in giving age)

smoking revolver

snorting iron horse (locomotive)

snug income

sole topic of conversation

so e top c o co e sat o

spread like wildfire

stepped into the breach

sterling worth and high promise

still evening air

stood aghast

storm king

stung with remorse

succulent bivalve

suicide (as a verb)

summoned medical aid

sustained an injury

swathed in bandages

sweet slumber

thickest of the fray

this mortal coil

tidy sum

tiny tots

tireless vigil

tonsorial parlor
took into custody

took the bit in his teeth

totally destroyed

to the bitter end

tried and true official

tripped the light fantastic

ubiquitous reporter

unbiased probe

under cover of the darkness

unfortunate victim

unique in the city’s annals

united in the bonds of matrimony

upholders of law and order

vale of tears

vanished as if the earth had swallowed him up

vengeance his portion

viewed the remains

vouches for the authenticity of

war to the knife

waxed eloquent