“bury the lede” — meaning, examples, and why it works
The word lede isn't a typo, and that's the whole point. It's a deliberate misspelling — a small archaism a newsroom keeps on purpose — and the phrase built around it has quietly become one of the most useful accusations in the language. To bury the lede is to commit a sin nearly everyone has committed: saving the actual news for the postscript. What it actually means The dictionary version is tidy enough — to open with secondary detail while the most important information sits further down, whether in an article, an email, or a conversation. But the nuance lives in the verb. You don't lose the lede, or forget it, or leave it out. You bury it. The important thing is still there, just interred — alive under three paragraphs of throat-clearing, waiting for a reader patient enough to dig it back up. That's what gives the phrase its bite. It isn't an accusation of forgetting; it's an accusation of mis-ranking. You knew what mattered. You put it second any...