Hal - Deliberately Basic

The Absolute Most Worrisome Clichés of The Decade

There are two kinds of people in the world, those who start Clichés and those who cannot speak without using them. Have you ever gone a week without using a Cliché? As you can see, I haven’t. And I still have my eyesight, for the most part.

Most of us use Clichés in ordinary speech. Without platitudes and Clichés most of us would be at a loss for anything to say. But, some words and phrases become so over-used, if we really listen, we become ill and want to vomit from too much exposure to them.

Here then, are some barf-inducing words and expressions that I have collected for some time, and now will share with you for entertainment. Some are more potent than others for hastening  dysfunctional brain cell activity, and inducing madness. Feel free to add to this list, so that we may all share our stuff.

Buzzwords, Neologisms, and Bromides

A neologism is a newly invented word or phrase, that becomes part of the language. This is good, as we often need new words to explain that which has no word for it. Cyberspace is a prime example of a neologism.

Buzzword is yet another word for Cliché. These words and phrases are so over-used, they become tiring to the soul, and cause the illnesses described above. Bromides, used in this context, are not for stomach acid; in this context they produce stomach acid.

The Words

Guru - A guru is a spiritual teacher. Current use, someone who is an expert at anything, usually with computers.

Tipping point - From the book “Tipping Point”, almost as over-used as Paradigm. The moment of critical mass, the threshold, the point when everyday things reach epidemic proportions. Example: The election in 2008 may be my tipping point for watching campaign ads without uninterrupted retching.

Ground zero - What can be said about this?  It is associated with the attack on The World Trade Center, but is now used to mean the lowest point where dire events take place.

What goes round comes round - If ever a remark was made that was more idiotic than this, I never heard it. What the hell does this mean? I know what it is supposed to mean, but come on folks. Let’s use a better Cliché such as Karma for this concept.

Paradigm - The word paradigm sounds like a part from a ‘49 Buick transmission. Oh hell, my paradigm just shifted again. Gotta get that sucker fixed.

Synergize - From the Greek “synergia,” which means joint work and cooperative action. There are over one million definitions for this word when I Googled it. I don’t remember most of them.

On steroids - Everything that is a little better than its predecessor or competitive product is on steroids. This goes well with the next one.

Not your father’s____ fill in the blank. Used to illustrate the potency of one thing over another. I’ll wait for the sequel, Not your son’s_____.

Outside the box - To think “outside the box.” The litter box? Yes, I know the puzzle from whence this came, but after hearing this, even in a fast-food commercial, I am going to think inside the box just to piss them off.

Alleged or alleged suspect - Television news talk for the stinkin’ bastard who committed the crime. Personally, I like the TV show ‘Criminal Minds’ and the word they use for the heinous SOB who perpetrated the act. The unsub. Unsub is law-enforcement slang for “Unknown Subject Of An Investigation.

Although there are approximately a bunch of words such as this, used in everyday conversation, on television and the Internet, obviously there is not room for all of them here. The English language has more than a million words, more words than any other language in the world. We have nearly infinite ways of describing anything, yet we use the same banalities over and over. I’ll leave you with a final word, or unword  as the case may be.

Git-R-done

“A vocabulary of truth and simplicity will be of service throughout your life”
Winston Churchill

Hal Brown

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