With Luck, They’ll Die With the Old Year
Lake Superior State University has recommended the banishment of 16 words and phrases from the English language, including "Brangelina" and "ask your doctor." The annual list targets expressions that are irritating, overused or generally ill-applied.Lake Superior State University has recommended the banishment of 16 words and phrases from the English language, including “Brangelina” and “ask your doctor.” The annual list targets expressions that are irritating, overused or generally ill-applied.
Wait, before you go…AP:
The list reads like a lexicon of popular culture.
Take “ask your doctor,” the mantra of pharmaceutical commercials. The university called it “the chewable vitamin morphine of marketing.”
Critics piled on the media’s practice of combined celebrity names such as “TomKat” or “Brangelina.” One said, “It’s so annoying, idiotic and so lame and pathetic that it’s “lamethetic.'”
Real estate listings were targeted for overuse of “boast.” As in “master bedroom boasts his-and-her fireplaces – never ‘bathroom apologizes for cracked linoleum,’ ” quipped Morris Conklin of Portugal.
It wasn’t hard to find the phrase “gone/went missing” in 2006. “It makes ‘missing’ sound like a place you can visit, such as the Poconos. Is the person missing, or not?” asked Robin Dennis of Texas.
If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.
Support Truthdig
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.