alt Hacker NewsRandom trivia (and something I learned this way myself from an internet reply, though I can't remember when):
What gets buried is the "lede". It is a really unusual thing — a deliberate, engineered misspelling of "lead" that leaked into broader use:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/bury-the-lede-versu...
(Not meant as a nit-pick — it's just something that adds really fascinating historical colour to a useful expression, that people often mistakenly re-correct)
Replies
It's spelled "lede" so as not to be confused with "lead," as in the metal with which was used to print newspapers.
Since "lead" (as in beginning of a story) and "lead" (as in metal) were frequently used in print newsrooms, the spelling of one changed over time to reduce confusion.
There were a number of other language convolutions in newsrooms, such as "slug" which meant a piece of hot metal, and so was useful for describing a spent bullet, the very short text that served as a title for a particular story, and a section of metal letters on the printing press.
/Worked for two major newspaper companies back when printing newspapers was akin to printing money.
Not sure why you got downvoted on this one. You're right and you even turned it into a bit of language history. It's bury the lede, and now I know why.