For those who hoped I was done talking about words for a while, sorry. Well, not really. I am a word nerd after all.
Lake Superior State University had its say on words that merit banishment, and now it's Voices readers' turn.
One reader went all out and made me chortle so much he might have heard it in Searcy. John McPherson wrote: "I fear I may sound like a broken record and maybe I am just beating a dead horse trying to make it go to water to drink but one word that just makes me gnash my teeth while climbing the walls screaming like a banshee is 'snuck' used in place of sneaked. I would rather hear a thousand ain'ts than one snuck, but I guess I'm just one lonely onion in a petunia patch as far as that goes. At the end of the day, few care what I think.
"Going from words to phrases that need to be banished, 'at the end of the day' would probably head my list. Many euphem-isms are useful but some are overused such as 'passed away' in place of died to the extent that I have heard of a beached whale passing away on the beach. Also galling to me are hunters and newspaper writers using 'take' or 'taking' instead of 'kill' or 'killing.' Thanks for letting me vent, steam, rail and rant."
You're welcome! John wasn't the only one who'd love to see "at the end of the day" kick the bucket. Karl Hansen is also no fan of the phrase, as well as "going forward" (both phrases that annoy me as well), and "that humbles me," which he described as "an asinine expression used by a gob of politicos who've just been elevated above their competency level."
Another Karl, Karl Kimball, has a hated word from the political realm, writing, "My nomination for 'banned' word: collusion. It isn't intrinsically a crime, and is being thrown around vituperatively by people with a history of colluding, including to undo an election!"
Laurence Gray and Pat Phillips have some peeves involving the language of common courtesy. Laurence wrote, "I would like to see 'my bad' permanently banished because it supposedly means 'my mistake'."
I once worked with someone who it seemed said "My bad" with every other sentence, so I completely sympathize. Somehow I managed not to slap him when he did--a triumph of self-control there, believe me.
Pat wrote, "When I say 'thank you' to someone (generally a younger person) and they say 'no problem' instead of 'you're welcome'." Admittedly I have sometimes done this even though I try not to. Just can't control that tongue at times. I'm also guilty of using Pat's other peeve, starting sentences with "so." So I should really stop that.
News clerk extraordinaire and fellow word nerd CB Byrd is irritated when people use "countless," and rightly so, because as he told me, just because you don't know the number doesn't meant that something can't be counted. If you're talking about stars in the sky, we can let that go, but something like M&Ms in a bowl ... nah.
Tom Barron wrote: "Your column today on banished words was 'awesome.' And unless it has already been added to the list, I think 'awesome' should be included next time. That would be 'amazing'!" Well, Lake Superior State banished "awesome" twice, in 1984 and 2007 (apparently the first one didn't take), mostly because of the straying from its actual meaning (causing awe or dread) to how it's currently mostly used to say, "Hey, that's great." "Amazing," by the way, was banished in 2012.
Finally, Bill Polk is "weary of hearing about all those things that we deserve, from the best car to the most comprehensive insurance. What did we do to 'deserve' it? Are we each so special that no one is special?" He's right. I think we all deserve a break from being so deserving. It's exhausting.
A couple of notes for readers: Thanks to the unavailability of the Voices form last week combined with the usual holiday slump, there was a dearth of letters coming in, and I was forced to run a letter before intending to, as I was waiting for more information to add an editor's note to the end of it. That letter wondered why a story about Craig O'Neill was at the bottom of the High Profile front page rather than being the cover story itself.
The answer from the features department is that Mr. O'Neill had previously been the subject of a High Profile cover story, and that is a one-time honor. Once someone has been the cover story, they are not eligible for another, but may be featured elsewhere in the section.
On another topic, readers of this page are no doubt well-acquainted with the writing of Steve Straessle. Steve, father of five and the principal at Little Rock Catholic High School for Boys, is a frequent contributor both to Voices and our Sunday Perspective section.
Beginning this Saturday, you'll get to read Steve every other weekend on the Voices page. His column, The Strenuous Life, takes its name from a Theodore Roosevelt speech in which, Steve says, "he advocated for filling one's life with activity and passion," and that is essentially what Steve will write about in his column.
I hope you look forward to it as much as I do.
------------v------------
Assistant Editor Brenda Looper is editor of the Voices page. Read her blog at blooper0223.wordpress.com. Email her at blooper@arkansasonline.com.
Editorial on 01/10/2018