Every year Lake Superior State University (read here for the history of word banishment) listens to complaints and comments from the American public about overused words and phrases in American usage and they compile a list of words that are to be banned for the next year. The list for 2008 includes: Perfect Storm, Webinar, Waterboarding, Organic, Wordsmith/Wordsmithing, Author/Authored, Post 9/11, Surge, Give Back, 'Blank' is the new 'Blank' or 'X' is the new 'Y', Black Friday, Back in the Day, Random, Sweet, Decimate, Emotional, Pop, It Is What It Is, and Under the Bus.
I agree with the banning of "Perfect Storm," "Post 9/11," and "Decimate" and hereafter you will never see these phrases appear on my blog because I do believe that "perfect storm" is way overused, I don't live my life according to a 9/11 timeline, and I never reduce anything strictly by one tenth. I can't promise about the other words and phrases, because either I like them, or I still find them useful or ironic.
If you are looking for a "random" resolution for the new year, you could check out the complete list of banned words. It would be a major accomplishment to remove them all from your vocabulary... or even just your blogging vocabulary.
I will miss random but I understand why it has to go.
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered about "organic." When I go to the supermarket and see "organic bananas," what does it mean? As opposed to "artificial bananas?" Aren't bananas, by definition, organic?
ReplyDeleteMr. Fob, you are a better person than I, who am not ready to give up random, even though I do understand the need for it to go.
ReplyDeleteSoccer Dad, I had the same conversation with my brother and my father while I was home for the holidays. We decided that all "organic" fruits and vegetables need to now have the label: "raised without pesticides."