Humph. A verbal boxing match broke out in the office re: the cliche "white hot" - what it is (a cliche) and the intention behind its use (in this case, irony, a mode which has often been beyond my literalist grasp). It is supremely frustrating that we (the staff and I) are so young to this venture, not one journalism (or English) degree among us to boast as trump card. When settling grammatical disagreements, we must often stick our noses into manuals like Strunk & White or Karen Elizabeth Gordon's The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed.

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