Nothing strips a word of all its meaning
like using it over and over.
Case in point, the word
"amazing," which has gone from describing sheer astonishment to a
simple affirmation of the slightly above-average. Which is exactly why Lake
Superior State University wants to ban it.
Every year the Michigan university
releases a list of 15 words that, after months of staggering overuse, have got
to go. Other words and phrases that made the list: "occupy,"
"man cave" and "ginormous."
Most of the words are synonymous with a
driving force derived from pop culture. Look no further than the cult-like
obsession with Beyoncé's pregnancy for the reasoning behind "baby
bump," or the self-explanatory "occupy."
According to Time magazine,
"amazing" came out on top with more than 1,500 nominations from
anglophones worldwide. Many people complained that the word went stale after
being overexposed through reality TV.
“I blame Martha Stewart because to her,
EVERYTHING is amazing!” one nominee wrote.
The plight to eradicate the word has
even been taken to Facebook where a smattering of groups lament the word's
ubiquity.
John Shibley, one of the people
responsible for the Lake Superior list told NPR that the annual word
collections are like "looking at snapshots of cultural movements back
then, times gone by."
The inaugural list was born at a New
Year's Eve party in 1975 when a college relations director bet that he could go
home and write up five overused words and phrases. That list consists of timely
gems such as "macho" ("seldom pronounced properly and therefore
lacks meaningfulness") and "détente" ("invented by Henry
Kissinger. Nobody else knows what it means, and now even Kissinger has
forgotten").
"I personally don't want to see
language squelched in any way or form because I think it's a living thing. It
reflects us and it's always changing," Mr. Shibley says.
The Toronto photographer JJ Thompson
compiled a similar list for the Toronto Standard, where he dreams of a future
without "staycation" and "foodie." Public usage of the
latter word, he writes, "is like whipping out your Razr."
Another blogger ranted about words that
needed to be retired with a list topped by "adorkable," no doubt
inspired by Zooey Deschanel's pervasive brand of saccharine whimsical.
Lake Superior State says it doesn't
compile these lists to try to control our choice of words, but simply to start
a conversation about language. Still, a world without the word "man
cave?" That would be pretty amazing.
For The List of All Fifteen Words Prepared By Michigan University Click on the link given below.
Courtesy : The Globe And Mail
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