Leon Crawl

Is there a phrase in journalism more plainly indicative of laziness and a lack of familiarity with basic facts than “in recent memory”? I’ve used it, certainly, and have felt like a huge loser every time. “I want to put this thing in historical context, and have a vague sense, based on I don’t know what, that it is a very unusual thing. Sorry but I’m not going to be looking up any dates or doing anything that would render useful this mangled impression of information.”