Do you have a phrase you’ve formed an attachment to? Something someone says that you look forward to hearing and would notice if it went unsaid?
If you tune in to Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) on early weekday mornings, you are likely listening to “Morning Edition” hosted locally by Cathy Wurzer. I’ve listened to Cathy’s smart, friendly voice for years as she relays, according to MPR, “all the news from overnight and the information you need to start your day.” Yet for all the serious news (and sometimes lighthearted stories), her consistent refrain, “It’s 7:01 and the news is next,” is what I most connect with. I’ve heard her say this for so long that I reflexively say it out loud right along with her.
“Wurzer. Coffee. Repeat. Such is the morning ritual for so many Minnesota Public Radio listeners, and what a dynamic combo.”
—City Pages
Curious, I reached out and asked Cathy for the origin of her daily phrase. “I just wish there was a better story behind my little tag line, but there isn’t! I swear!” she says. “Radio people are pathologically focused on time, and I just figured that, when people are in the bathroom brushing their teeth or running around trying to get ready, they aren’t eyeballing a clock, so I’m that verbal clock.”
I laughed out loud—“verbal clock.” Exactly. My clocks are only a version of accuracy, so Cathy’s friendly preciseness is how I confirm what time it really is in the morning.
She says, “I’m not sure how long I’ve said that little tag line. I’d guess more than ten years now.” She also confirmed, as I suspected, that the phrase is uniquely hers; fill-in hosts don’t say it. When I told her that several of my friends and I have the MPR “It’s 7:01 and the news is next” t-shirt, she replied, “Had I known it would have been on a t-shirt, trust me, I would have come up with something a little more creative!”
I look forward to Cathy’s friendly time-telling refrain in the mornings. How about you? Do you have a phrase you’ve become attached to?
[Photography by Moon Lake Multimedia. All rights reserved.]
Anne
We are MPR fans in my little family, and, when asked for the time, we often answer one another with, “It’s [the time] and the news is next.” Being a freelancer, I often have MPR on as I work, and I feel that Cathy Wurzer and Kerri Miller, and now 1A’s Joshua Johnson, are something like my virtual coworkers.
Margie
I think the fact that it’s not “creative” (Cathy’s words) makes the phrase all the more unique. Anything else would have been passé by now.