Sharing isn't always nice

Today's grievance: If you're in a position to write or edit photo captions, please never let "shares a laugh" make it into print again.

Ever.

Captions are display type just as much as headlines and deck heads. They'll more than likely be read before the story, too. We need to make sure they are as conversational and informative as can be. And if there's one thing "shares a laugh" is not, that's conversational.

And while we're at it, lets ban "so-and-so reacts after such-and-such." I know cutline writers are trying to avoid stating the obvious, i.e. Bob cheers or Bob cries or Bob emotes in some other way, but "reacts" is no better. You can always write around the problem, and the cutline -- and the reader -- will be better off for it.