When did this happen? When did people on the radio stop saying "prior to" or "before" or even "in the run-up to" and start saying "in advance of"?
I'm talking about this: "
In advance of Comey's testimony, Republicans refuse to appear on Morning Joe to defend Trump."
Yes, yes, of course: language changes all the time. I say that all the time, and it's as unproblematic as it is trite. Still, I don't like "in advance of."
It's also possible that this phrase has been around since forever, but I've only recently started to notice it. I suspect this is true of "meantime" used for "meanwhile." (As in, "Meantime, I'll be out here waiting in the car.") That feels newish to me also—I first became aware of it about 15 years ago—but maybe people have always said it.
