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It's 2002. Time's a flying.
Guess I'm having fun.
I've been doing this 'blog
since February 4, 1999 and in that time I have already created some crutches
traditions to get me through such post-holiday moments.
What does this mean? It
means it's time for the Lake
Superior State University's List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for
Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness 2002.
I'm a bit of a word-nerd and I have been checking in with this list for the last
three years or so. Now I don't know I am becoming more tolerant to verbal misdemeanors,
but I find this year's list downright snarky and somewhat politically
charged:
DISENFRANCHISE
- "The term has been frequently appplied to describe voters who have
experienced difficulty in following directions." - J. H. Jaroma, Sault Ste.
Marie, Michigan. "Our country cannot possibly hold that many victims."
- Linda, Kansas City, Missouri.
REALITY TV and REALITY-BASED TV
-- "Banish the words, banish the shhows, banish the people who came up with
the idea for the shows, because there is nothing real about this form of
television." - Mary Li, Toronto, Ontario.
CAR-JACKING - "Throughout my long career in law
enforcement, there was a name for the forcible taking of an auto from the
driver. It's called armed robbery." - John King, Oceanside, California.
INFOMERCIAL - "Is
everyone else as tired of this as I am? If a commercial lasts for 30 minutes,
it's a PROGRAM. It's also boring!" - John King, Oceanside, California.
MAKING MONEY -- As a caller into a radio program on
Detroit's WJR pointed out, only counterfeiters make money. Honest people earn
it.
Um, I thought that this was a list of annoying "words" and not
"annoying things". I don't like infomercials, but the word, "infomercial"
isn't overused, misused, or useless. And "car-jacking" is more
descriptive and expressive than "armed robbery".
The
most contentious of this year's list is that of "9-11".
Personally, I don't really understand why this is on the list. I don't think
"9-11" trivializes the events. In fact I think the phrase is a fair
one as it includes all the events of the day in New York, Pennsylvania and
Washington DC. Secondly, "9-11" is a "value-free" statement;
I'm glad that the event hasn't been dressed up like "The Day of
Infamy". Sure, "9-11" is overused but overused in the way that
the phrase "D-Day" might have been overused in 1944.
Other than the 9-11 words,
there's not much in the list that is "sooo 2001, ya know?" Where is
"bootylicious", "bling bling", "the weakest link.
GOODBYE"?
And where the hell is "SWEEEEET"?
I have a sinking feeling that this year's smell of self-righteousness
may be due to the fact that over
half of the list were submitted by Canadians.
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