Finally, a piece on overused words. The Words You Love to Hate is fun to read--even more fun are the comments. A lot of readers volunteered their pet peeves and I agreed with nearly all of them, although I have to admit that I was surprised that my all time pettest peeve, "awesome," took a while to show up in the list. "Awesome" does not apply unless one is looking at the Milky Way, which is difficult these days unless one is out in the desert away from light pollution, or visiting the Grand Canyon, or contemplating the reach of the Pacific Ocean, or something else on such a grand scale. A new party dress, a visit to McDonald's, or even my agreement to meet with a student on Friday morning, flattering as it was for him to say so, none of these are "awesome."
Some of my other peeves were there as well: "absolutely," "like," (as in "he was, like, there, and I, like, said,") "you know," "dude," (used to be cute but is now not unless the dude is under twelve). I am also sick and tired (and "sick" is also an overused word) of words such as "sexy". That one gets used on shows such as "What Not To Wear" so much. Sexy this. Sexy that. The hosts on WNTW overuse other words--they have an entire list of words they use on every episode I've seen. It's as if they have approved vocabulary words and they never stray. "Great little jacket." "Great peep toe shoe." And with the reveal: "Shut up!" (from the female host. Why? Did the client say something objectionable? Usually she's remarkably quiet after a week of being treated like a squashed cabbage leaf). "Sexy little cami." ENOUGH. The references to "sexy" really get on my nerves. I consider it vulgar and I wish it would stop. If I'm listening to a tv host giving advice on makeovers, I don't want to hear body parts referred to as butts, boobs, or the girls. And at the end of a lot of episodes, I see preening, dancing, and kisses being blown to the camera from the Client of the Week (CW), this all signifying how happy CW is with her makeover. That kind of behavior is all right, I suppose, and necessary for PR. But I'm expecting advice, which usually comes, and I'm expecting the same kind of respect for the English language, which usually does not. But respect IS one of the aims of the show, correct? Whatever happened to Tim Gunn's show? That man is elegance personified.
