The Weltchek Weekly

The other day a snazzy-looking magazine from Chevrolet arrived in the mail. The automotive company clearly had spent a lot of money on it. I flipped to the first page where my eyes landed on this greeting—rendered in big, bold type: “Welcome to the Premiere Issue of New Roads.”

Problem is, it’s not the premiere issue; it’s the premier issue.

Premiere, a noun—never an adjective—is the opening of a play, movie, or television show, as in Last night’s “Inside Amy Schumer” premiere was full of fantastic sketches. Of late, premiere has also become a verb, as in “Inside Amy Schumer” premieres in May.

Premier, the adjective, means first in importance or rank, or first to occur. The word can sound pretentious and often can be replaced by foremost, leading or top—or just plain first.

I would have found it refreshing had Chevrolet welcomed me to its magazine’s first issue. Inaugural would have worked, too.