It's once again time to visit with the folks at Lake Superior State University who have issued their annual list of words and phrases that should be banned from the English language.
The link to the complete list is below.
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WORDS and PHRASES THAT SHOULD BE BANNED
Heard during 2008
GREEN - in all its ecological variations. Goodness, people were even using it as a verb, as in, "We need to think about greening our office." [I even heard one television show where employment in an environmental industry was referred to as "green collar jobs." I kid you not. -- MR]
MAVERICK - Totally overused in the last election. A five-year ban is suggested so it cannot be used in the next presidential campaign.
BAILOUT - Use of emergency funds to purchase toxic assets from the banks is not a bailout. When your cousin calls you in the middle of the night from his local jail, *that's* a bailout.
ICON or ICONIC - It has become the new "awesome." Can't we use legendary or "famous for..."? It seems that everyone and everything in the entertainment industry is now "iconic" in one way or another. Too much!
STAYCATION - Coined for those who choose to stay home during their summer vacation instead of paying the high price of gas for travel. It's a word whose appearance in our lexicon should be brief, indeed.
WINNER OF __ NOMINATIONS - Saying someone or something has been *nominated* for an award is not the same thing as saying he/she/it has won. Stop promoting him/her/it like it has.
DESPERATE SEARCH - Every time someone or something is lost, we don't go on a "relentless" search, or a "determined" search, or even just a routine search, but a "desperate" search, as if our very lives depended upon it.
[selected from the annual awards given out by Lake Superior State University w/additional commentary by Mark Raymond; see the complete list here]
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My grandmother-in-law had knee replacement surgery early in December and finally came home from the rehab/recovery center in late December. For about two weeks now, my wife and her aunt have been alternating spending the night with her to aid in housekeeping, therapy, and general make-sure-Grandma-is-okayness and will do so until she's once again able to walk freely on her own and take care of things. All while also working full time and trying to keep our own household here going strong. So I guess I'm saying that if you could toss a few good prayers and kind thoughts her way, I'd appreciate it.
Me? I'll see you on Monday and perhaps once or twice this weekend over at the blog.
Mark
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WEB SITE of the WEEK: "Didja ever wonder..." Yesterday was Andy Rooney's 90th birthday. The quirky curmudgeon with a sharp eye on society's foibles has been with the 60-Minutes show since 1978. You can catch many of Andy's latest two-and-a-half minute segments on the CBS 60-Minutes site at http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/rooney/main3419.shtml. There's also a larger archive there. The segments are in both text and video. I tried reading a couple, but they just weren't the same without Andy's trademark vocal inflections and phrasing, so I wound up watching the video. Thank goodness for broadband!
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Mark's Musings is a Habeas-certified spam free mailer. That means you'll never get any spam from me. No way, no how. Subscribe, view past issues in the Archives, or help defray publishing costs at Mark's web site. To contact Mark, click here. To lose weight, I may need professional help. You can forward or reprint "Mark's Musings" freely but please keep the credits attached. The credits are calorie-free and yet full of zesty flavor. Original material and commentary © 2009 by Mark Raymond. This includes the stuff you're reading right now. I update this blog with a copy of this post daily, and extra thoughts, videos, and the occasional other bit of fluffery at other times, but mostly on the weekends. My personal mission statement is John 3:30. We are in the grip of an arctic cold front here. How cold is it? I opened my freezer this morning and saw that the ice cubes had put on a sweater.
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WORDS for YOUR WEEKEND: "If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else." (Laurence J. Peter)
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