Let's Fix Our Language
Every so often, the English language needs to go through some sort of purifying ceremony. Happily, nobody says "Neo-Geo," "Fresh frozen," "Humanitarian aid for the Contras," "that shit is wack," or "barf me out" anymore.
So what tired words or phrases can we get rid of, starting now? Here are five nominees:
*Stimulus package
*Tweeting
*The Greatest Generation
*"Deets"
*Babydaddy
What are yours?
posted by Stuart Shea at 11:23 PM
13 Comments:
'Stimulus package' should be banned immediately; when fast food restaurants and furniture stores offer them, I want to throw something.
My others:
-Awesome
-Quality (as a business focus)
-My bad
And the one that I'm expecting to trickle UP to adults from teens:
-Epic (as in 'epic fail')
4:34 AM, July 20, 2009
The word "Sick" used to describe something cutting edge, hip, interesting. As in "Aw that YouTube video is SICK!" or "That new iPhone is SICK!"
Some business marketing terms that can go bye bye:
"Agile" (cheetahs are agile, not software)
"Robust" (wine can be robust, coffee is robust, a well-trained athlete is robust)
"On Demand" (nobody really knows what this means anymore)
8:12 AM, July 20, 2009
I'm with Joyce on "My Bad" - that was a stillborn phrase and never should have caught on.
Also, the use of "grow" as an active verb (except perhaps with regards to plants) has got to stop. You do not "grow" companies or business any more than you "grow" your children. Business does grow, but you do not "grow business".
That's possibly the dumbest word use to rise up in the '90's, aside perhaps from the phrase "Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich".
9:45 AM, July 20, 2009
"It is what it is"
10:04 AM, July 20, 2009
It would be nice if "bold" could be excised from the vocabulary of ad copywriters. Whenever I hear a (car, iced tea, clothing line) described as "bold" I immediately know, "There is nothing noteworthy about this thing at all."
11:51 AM, July 20, 2009
--Deja Vu all over again.
--"We're" pregnant.
12:30 PM, July 20, 2009
It's not a word, but I hate "LOL". I refuse to use it, even if it means typing more letters (well, it does mean that).
1:36 PM, July 20, 2009
The use of "way more" in any serious discussion. Have the Valley Girls taken over journalism?
While we are at it... phrases such as "three times less". You can't have three times less of anything. I'm not a math genius, but... you just can't.
9:49 PM, July 20, 2009
This comment has been removed by the author.
5:08 AM, July 21, 2009
I agree with Amy on "sick." And one in which I simply don't see the humor is "the interwebs."
5:08 AM, July 21, 2009
Never EVER EVER EVER EVER have a single mouth utter "there's no 'I' in 'TEAM'" EVER again!
11:53 PM, July 21, 2009
Can't believe it took me this long to come up with my entry:
"Snap"
As in, "Oh, snap!" - and I've heard it to mean both something positive and negative. I'm too old for this and get easily confused.
7:51 AM, July 27, 2009
Well, I'm late to the game, but while we're at it...
"Red States/Blue States"
Teabag revolts
Birthers
and the quaint "Oh, well."
7:01 AM, September 13, 2009
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