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Updated 13 hours ago
When a severe ice storm delayed the start of an NFL playoff game in January, a reporter wrote in a game preview, “Weather already has played a factor in the Steelers-Chiefs divisional-round AFC-playoff game.”
“Has played a factor”? Something about that phrase sounded odd. But why?
Certainly “has played a role” or “has played a part” would be correct. And “has been a factor” or even “has played AS a factor” would make sense.
But not “played a factor.” Though the definitions of “role” and “factor” do overlap, there's a key difference in their meanings. A “role” is something that someone or something assumes, takes on or plays, while a “factor” is something that someone or something IS, just as something is an influence or a component.
Thus, an actor PLAYS a role in a movie and IS a factor in it, but he would never “play a factor” in it, unless he were portraying the legendary cosmetics mogul Max Factor. (Hey, that's not a bad idea for a bio-pic.)
My maxim: Avoid “plays a factor.”
Meanwhile, another football story placed me face-mask to face-mask with a similar bete noir: the use of “fortuitous” to mean not simply “occurring by chance” (its traditional meaning), but “fortunate.”
“The Giants' need for a cornerback and the Jets' desire for a speedy linebacker,” reported the New York Times, “produced a fortuitous outcome for Eli Apple and Darron Lee, former Ohio State teammates and good friends.”
While the hiring of two “ap-lee”-named buddies by Big Apple teams did occur by chance, the writer is clearly emphasizing that this was a happy event for them. In fact, just a sentence later, he refers to their “good fortune.”
While using “fortuitous” to mean “lucky” instead of “chance” is a common and easily forgiven slip, the specter of redundancy arises when writers use “fortuitous coincidence,” which means “chance chance.”
Consider this sentence from a 2014 political story: “In a fortuitous coincidence for Mr. Brat, many of the most influential media players who helped tip the election in his favor have longstanding ties to Virginia.”
Do I harbor any illusions that my squeamish objections to “plays a factor” or to using “fortuitous” to mean “fortunate” will halt the inexorable tromp of these tropes toward acceptability.
Nope. Given their proliferation, they will surely, and perhaps fortuitously (whatever that means), play a factor in English for decades to come.
Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd St., Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.
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