Virtually no one in the news business uses the word "transpire" as a synonym for "occur," yet White House spokesman Robert Gibbs let a "transpire" slide at a press conference yesterday.

In response to a question about the Honduras situation, Gibbs said, "Well, we will continue to monitor the situation and will respond accordingly as events transpire. But, again, as I said, we're watching closely what's going on."

Use of this little word is of interest because it suggests that possibly Gibbs has a certain disdain for press traditions, and might help to explain the argument with Helen Thomas over the planting of a question.

The word is included in the White House transcript, and so presumably isn't there because of misreporting.

If one reads those transcripts, one sees that Gibbs is very skillful and careful about choosing his words. On the other hand, we must acknowledge the human tendency to use a word because of some unconscious prompting, rather than because one really wishes to.

And, of course, he may have meant "transpire" to mean "unfold," but, again, no bona fide member of the press would ever use "transpire" that way. For the record, "transpire" means "breath through" (as in breathing through a membrane) and is related to the words "inspire" and "expire," the meanings of which have admittedly evolved over time.

Now you may say this is trivial: it's not as though he cussed or anything. But I'm not so sure. Isn't he laughing at the press he's there to serve? Every press secretary tries to manage the news, but one wonders if Gibbs has some secret animus toward reporters.