A Perfect Storm of Turbulent Gases in the Omega/Swan Nebula Courtesy of Hubble
Posted on 12/31/2007 6:20:19 PM PST by Semper911
CHICAGO: A “surge” of overused words and phrases formed a “perfect storm” of “post-9/11” clichés in 2007, according to a US univer-sity’s annual list of words and phrases that deserve to be banned. Choosing from among 2,000 submissions, the public relations department at Michigan’s Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie targeted 19 affronts to the English language in its well-known jab at the worlds of media, sports, advertising and politics.
The contributors gave first prize to the phrase “a perfect storm”, saying it was numbingly applied to virtually any notable coinci-dence. “Webinar” made the list as a tiresome non-word combining web and seminar that a contributor said “belongs in the same school of non-thought that brought us e-anything and i-anything.” Similarly, the list-makers complained about the absurd compari-sons commonly phrased “x is the new y,” as in “(age) 70 is the new 50” or “chocolate is the new sex.” “Fallacy is the new truth,” commented one contributor.
Some words and phrases sagged under the weight of overuse, contributors said, citing the application of “organic” to everything from computer software to dog food. In the same vein, decorators offering to add “pop” with a touch of colour need new words, the list-makers said.
Such phrases as “post-9/11” and “surge” have also outlived their usefulness, they said. Surge emerged in reference to adding US troops in Iraq but has come to explain the expansion of anything.
Other contributors took umbrage at the phrase to “give back” as applied to charitable gestures, usually by celebrities.
“The notion has arisen that as one’s life progresses, one accumu-lates a sort of deficit balance with society which must be neutral-ised by charitable works or financial outlays,” one said. “Back in the day” raised hackles for being applied to recent trends rather than historical events.
Other teenage linguistic indiscretions such as the often meaning-less use of “random” and “sweet” raised the ire of list-makers, as did the pointless “it is what it is.”
Reporters were chided for skipping out on detail by describing an event or parting as “emotional”, and for misapplying “decimate” when they mean annihilate or destroy, not the word’s true meaning of to lose a fraction.
Sports announcers were urged to drop “throw under the bus” when assigning blame to a player. “It is a call for the media to start issuing a thesaurus to everyone in front of a camera,” a contributor said.
And finally, any self-respecting writer would groan at being labelled a “wordsmith” who engages in “wordsmithing,” the list-makers said.
global warming
Oh, you’re just going negative on us.
Earmarks. WTH are those anyway? Just sick of hearing that one.
BTW, Happy New Years!!!!!!!!
Oh, and another one. “Playing out in space”. You hear that all the time on college & NFL games. The only ones that can “play in space” are those that are actually IN SPACE. Yuri Malenchenko, Peggy Whitson, & Dan Tani can truly “play in space”.
“I am deeply troubled”.
Though not necessarily 2007. When used car dealers got real slick and started calling them “pre-owned”.
A Perfect Storm of Turbulent Gases in the Omega/Swan Nebula Courtesy of Hubble
Pay As You Go
(as if anybody in government were really doing that in any version of reality)
Insurgents
undocumented aliens
controversial (seems everything is)
he/she “has issues”
NOW, the one that always bugged me the most was “AT THIS POINT IN TIME”.
and of course, now...
emo
“paradigm shift”
and
“I digress”
Worse two comments ever....
Homer, “ stupid news reporter idiots......”
Somebody stop me now, please, here’s another one:
lesbian chic
Somebody please blow that one up with C4.
Overused phrases—
“Global warming”
“For the children”
“Bush’s fault”
“Root causes”
“Peaceful purposes”
I’ve always thought that Liberals should not be allowed to use the word “complex,” as in “The situation is much more complex than you simple-minded, black-and-white conservatives can understand.”
...and “so-called,” as in “so-called surge,” or “so-called war on terror”
This one really bugs me: “It is what it is”
good segue
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