Remember, it's 'drunken' driving

It's worth mentioning as we approach the traditional party-till-you-drop New Year's weekend that the correct phrase is drunken driving, not drunk driving, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Ad Council would have us believe in their new ad campaign Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving.

Of course, a zillion TV stations are picking that wording up and then just repeating it elsewhere in their stories, especially since NBC splayed the incorrect word all across one of its video feeds last night. (Others, to their credit, are getting it mostly right, but then slipping -- see this one where the reporter uses drunken correctly throughout the story, but some thoughtful Web producer put "Drunk Driving" as the header.)

And even some newspapers can't get it right, as this headline from the Idaho Press-Tribune's Web site shows.

But while it's drunken driving, you drive drunk.

As in much of life, placement is soooo very important.