Jonah Watch, 2002

Yesterday, Jonah Goldberg (editor of National Review Online, for those who don’t know) wrote the following:

Tomorrow I will be making my annual peregrination to the YAF National Conservative Student Conference.

Something about the word “peregrination” seemed hinky to me. To quote The Princess Bride “ I do not think it means what you think it means.”
It turns out that I was right. According to dictionary.com, it means “A traveling from place to place; a wandering.” The following examples are given:

He ventures out in his pajamas and makes a dreamlike peregrination through the town's deserted streets.
--Richard Eder, "Puck-ish Ramblings in Midsummer Dreams," New York Times, May 18, 2000

In 1890, Lafcadio Hearn settled in Japan after a lifetime of restless, melancholy peregrination.
--Francine Prose, "Modern Geisha," New York Times, April 23, 2000

He left Parma in the family camper-van, abandoning it in a Milan car-park to avoid its being identified at border controls before setting off on a peregrination through Switzerland, France, London, Canada, New York and eventually back to London.
--Paddy Agnew, "Incident leads to crime that has baffled police," Irish Times, December 12, 1998

It thus seems to me that Jonah’s use of peregrination is incorrect. One does not peregrinate to anyplace, one peregrinates through a place.
Why do I care? Well, 1) it gives me something to write about, and 2) hey, he’s being paid to do this. The least he could do is look up the big words he uses.