Tony Kronheiser

Tony Kronheiser


     Tony Kornheiser is the self-admitted opinionated, sarcastic sports and style

columnist for The Washington Post.  Kornheiser's purpose is not to report to the

reader an objective account of a sporting event, but rather to add humor to

topics that range in topic from the Washington Redskins ("It's Now an Off-Road

Vehicle," November 5, 1996) to his lunch-time experience the other day ("In a

Real Fix," November 3, 1996).  Kornheiser's diction, figurative language, and

tone make his columns what they are.  Often, diction, figurative language, and

tone are not common in the journalistic world, but Kornheiser's humor finds room

for them.

     Tony Kornheiser's sarcasm is almost entirely related to his diction.  He

contains the skills to take something as insignificant as a restaurant changing

on him unexpectedly and reports about it so that the common man can relate.  He

is The Washington Post's Jerry Seinfeld.  He blends the slang of the street man

with the poetic verbs and fluid adjectives of an English teacher.  For example,

in "In A Real Fixe," Kornheiser says, "George was beginning to suspect that we

had entered (doo-doo, doo-doo). . . The Nouvelle Dining Zone."  Most people who

have watched the Twilight Zone before can relate this statement as a reference

to the famous TV show, so Kornheiser's slang was effective in grabbing the

reader, even if a large majority of them have no idea what the word "nouvelle"

means.  Kornheiser uses an array of such adjectives throughout his pieces but he

does not pretend to be above his readers.  He fills his work with colloquial

speech such as his references in "It's Now an Off-Road Vehicle" to other

Washington Post columnists such as Michael Wilbon, and to his "Redskins

Bandwagon." (The Redskins Bandwagon was a common phrase used by Washington

Redskins fans when the team won the Superbowl in 1991).  Kornheiser assumes that

the reader is familiar with him, and that is clear in his informal diction that

is used with the reader.  It is almost to the point of a friendship, as though a

coworker was letting off his steam at work during a lunch break.

     Kornheiser's figurative speech also add to his style quite well.  The

blend of diction and figurative speech is clear as Kornheiser uses several local

allusions in his metaphors and similes that add to his "common man" image.  For

example, in "In a Real Fixe," Kornheiser compares the look of a hostess' face to

one of a nurse at St. Elizabeth's, a local mental hospital.  In that same

article he also compares his whole experience to "going down into the Metro and

finding you're on the Concorde."  His figurative language add to his sarcasm.

Anytime a metaphor or a simile is used, it is used for exaggeration purpose.

Sarcasm is funny exaggeration.  Kornheiser compared his expensive lunch meal to

"Big Red chewing gum wrapped around a pimento."  That's funny because he is

comparing such an precious meal to a piece of gum and a pimento, a $25 meal to a

25 cent meal.  In "It's Now an Off-Road Vehicle," the whole column is one giant

metaphor.  His Redskins Bandwagon (which is supposedly a vehicle that starts up

and gets ready to let fans hop on all the way to the Superbowl with the Redskins,

but if you are a Kornheiser reader, he expects you to know that already) has

turned into an "off-road vehicle" because of a Redskins crushing defeat to a

team.  His figurative language is easy to understand, and it is funny.  Always,

though, it is used in a satiricThis is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now!


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