Morning Friend,
For over 30 years, Lake Superior State University in Michigan has been publishing its’ annual “List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse Over-Use and General Uselessness”.
Since its’ first New Year’s Day release in 1976, people from all over the world have nominated hundreds of words and phrases to be purged from the language and among them are such infamous nuggets as: “outside the box”, “24/7” , “user-friendly”, “at this point in time”, “at the end of the day”, “my bad”, and on and on it goes.
A nicely placed cliché or catchphrase, is a spokesperson’s best friend; be they a politician, newscaster, team manager, legal representative or corporate mouthpiece.
Like a catchy “hook” in a song, a contemporary catchphrase may add a certain familiarity and conviviality to what are often banal and sometimes “bad news” messages.
A dull or even dim-witted spokesperson can be seen to be at least somewhat clever through the use of trendy sayings and colloquial buzzwords.
Politicians – the Lords of Linguistic Largesse – use the clichéd language of pop culture in such a manner so as to speak, without actually saying anything of substance.
Listening to a politician is like watching a bad mime...something is happening, but no one is really sure what it is?
The mime’s occasional smile at least tells us that whatever it is, it’s not all bad; comforted perhaps by the common belief that politicians are “monitoring all situations on an ongoing basis”?
This year’s L.S.S.U. list includes a few nuggets I’m sure you’ll recognize by their hackneyed regurgitation if not their downright nausea-inducing familiarity.
Surely we’ve heard “too big to fail” , “transparent/transparency”, “czar”, “stimulus” and “toxic assets” far too many times and clever novelty words like “bromance”, “tweet”, “chillaxin’” and “sexting” at least the one time that is one too many?
One phrase which didn’t make it this year – through some miraculous oversight surely – and one which quite frankly I am sick and tired of hearing is “moving forward”!
Apparently everybody and everything nowadays, is “moving forward”.
A sports team on a ten game losing streak is moving forward in an effort to turn things around.
A company just filing for bankruptcy has done so moving forward.
A celebrity is moving forward, taking back some drunken words said at an awards show.
The solution to the country’s economic downturn is being addressed by effectively moving forward more effectively and more forwardly.
Tiger Woods has cut all extra-marital ties and is moving forward at a sexual addiction clinic. ( and backward, and forward, and backward....*just kidding)
An automobile manufacturer whose cars have defective transmissions with no forward gear, are moving forward by recalling them.
It’s a pleasant enough concept... being on the move, and in a forward direction connotes positive action, but the trouble lies in its’ multi-contextual nature.
It truly is a spin doctor’s dream phrase...applicable to virtually any situation and effective in even the direst of circumstance.
After the first 500 or so hearings of the phrase, it dawned on me that you can pretty say “the whole world and everything in it is moving forward” and be exactly correct!
It seems to me my friend, that the whole world has jumped upon the “moving forward” bandwagon, rendering the phrase a blight upon the Queen’s or anyone else’s English!
Every action between one to another – no matter how mundane or even factual - has become a forward move.
“While asleep in bed last night I made a significant rollover and found a different position moving forward in my restfulness.”
“While walking backwards today I hit a tree branch with my head moving forward in reminding myself not to be so foolish.”
“Comfortable footwear with a good sole for changeable weather helps me moving forward in all conditions.”
Surely a phrase as“...misused, overused and generally useless.” as this one deserves inclusion on next year’s banishment list ?
Otherwise I fear society’s ongoing evolutionary process will be like a mime behind a pane of glass....unable to move forward.
A “good” mime anyway.
love tImMy :/
Laugh as much as you breathe...
Love as long as you live (on the move)
