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What were 2012 best, or most overused, words?
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Columnist Todd Dorman’s Sunday column touched on a series of words or phrases that may have been mentioned a few too many times in 2012.
“On Lake Superior State University’s annual list are the now overused ‘amazing,’ ’baby bump,’ ‘shared sacrifice,’ ‘occupy,’ ‘blowback,’ ‘man cave,’ ‘the new normal,’ ‘pet parent,’ ‘win the future,’ ‘trickeration,’ ‘ginormous,’ and ‘thank you in advance,’ Dorman wrote in his column. “I think this list is ‘epic.’
“I might also add ‘YOLO, short for you only live once,’ all 50 shades of ‘mommy porn’ and both ‘broga,’ yoga for guys, and ‘doga,’ yoga for dogs.
“Locally, it was a year of finding the right words to get people to stop doing things. The City Council is determined to take on ‘aggressive panhandlers’ looking for a hand out, and to banish loud critics from city hall who are guilty of a planned ‘criminal trespass’ ordinance. If your property is a ‘nuisance,’ you may find yourself in ‘tiers.’ And we won’t be a ‘Blue Zone’ until we waddle away from the doughnuts. We’ve hashed and rehashed red light cameras. Now, get ready for ‘automated license plate recognition.’
“And we already have an early candidate for 2013’s word of the year, as Cedar Rapids casino backers try to convince state regulators that a new facility won’t ‘cannibalize’ existing casinos.
“Tough choices,” Dorman added. “But I think ‘pink slime’ best captures the spirit of the year.
“A spark of accusation, whipped by the swirling winds of social media and the breathless news cycle, grew into an inferno of overreaction. By the time we figured out that lean finely textured beef wasn’t exactly a pink plague on our plates, the saga was burned to a crisp. Politicians ranted and rumbled, the media, myself included, cracked wise, and the people most impacted, the workers who lost jobs, were barely heard above the din.”
What popular word or phrase of 2012 do you like or detest the most?
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Whatever. A perennial.
I vote a tie: “Like” and “you know”, this and any year. Many, like reading this will, like, you know, know what I mean, ya know.
A short list (yes, I know that these are technically phrases and not mere standalone words, but they are dear to my heart anyway):
FOURTH BEST: “Gingrich Leaves Race”
THIRD BEST: “Santorum Drops Out”
SECOND BEST: “Romney Nominated”
THE VERY BEST: “Obama Re-elected”
Oh I donno, Gingrich and Insantorum dropping kind of deprived me of the expected entertainment of hearing what “Mr. Mean” and “Gimmy that old-time Religion” were going to say next. Also, you forgot the female version of Insantorum, (“Minnesota Mindless”) Michelle Bachmann.
Assume- a word that used to derive its meaning from the same root as awful and used to describe what the scene would be if you stepped on a battlefield after the fighting had stopped and the dead and dying were still in place.
Folks- used to describe the American people by news commentators and politicians that cheapen us as a people. It shows how little respect they have for those of us who are suppose to be the source of all the power of this nation. We deserve more respect than that. Think back to the days of Johnson, “my fellow Americans”, the days of Lincoln, “of the People, by the People, and for the People” We aren’t a bunch of folksy, ignorant, clowns who don’t deserve respect, we are the source of all power of these United States, at least give us the benefit of the title we deserve.
When I think of “folks,’ I think of my parents. They often referred to their parents as their “folks.” I guess that’s why it’s always had an almost endearing quality for me, the opposite of condescension. If I use it, it’s not to belittle.
Agree — same experience.
I agree with Todd. The popular meanings of many words have drifted far from their etymological roots. I doubt that the word “folks” carries negative or disrepectful connotations to most people who are so addressed.
“Skin in the game”.
One way to check if your figure of speech is to visualize what it would look like if it were literal. “Tow the line” and “cut the mustard” (it’s “toe the line” and “cut the muster”, both military) are obviously in error.
But “skin in the game” is different. It’s not a-literate people writing down the words as they hear them. “Skin in the game” is skin in the game. The problem here is that the figure of speech is really gruesome and I think I’m going to throw up