one of my greatest pet peeves is that whenever i read an astronomical article that invovles black holes they almost always have to use the stock phrase "nothing, not even light, can escape" its gravitational pull.

i don't understand, is it mandatory to use that phrase? do writers get penalized by their editors if they don't use it? is there a pro plagiarism commitee that enforces using the phrase? its never 'black holes, one way traffic' or 'black holes, what goes in doesn't come out'. its always "nothing, not even light" as if they hadn't reminded me, i might not have realized that light is something and not nothing. or when i think of 'nothing' i usually consider light one of its attributes.