Buzzwords

Spot on.

That's my new least favorite word or phrase, dislodging "thinking outside the box," which has been a burr under my saddle for years.

We get these words and phrases periodically. Somehow, a technical term, a corporate buzzword, a foreign phrase or even a perfectly good but seldom used word will suddenly become vogue, and will then be used at every turn, wearing out its welcome. I think these things are called buzzwords rather appropriately, because they buzz in your ears like an annoying insect.

In the '80s anything known to be fact was "a given" and our dearest hope was that everyone would just be a "happy camper." In the '90s, everything made a "huge impact," or was "re-engineered," which was most definitely the result of someone "thinking outside the box."

I recall when George W. Bush first selected Dick Cheney as a running mate, and some educated person made the mistake of saying Cheney added "gravitas" to the ticket. Soon you couldn't get through a political talk show without someone tossing out "gravitas," while everyone else nodded seriously.

I'm not against vocabulary. I was an English major, after all. I used to enjoy reading the late William F. Buckley, because I knew I'd have to use the dictionary at least once. It was like a treasure hunt, finding that word that no ordinary person ever uses. But I'm sure it was my years in newspapers that makes me a firm believer that plain talk is the better way to communicate. It doesn't have to be cute or catchy to convey the message. And cute and catchy are usually annoying after the 100th time you hear it.

Everything does not have "synergy." That guy you met in philosophy class may well be smart and cool, but I guarantee he's not actually "amazing." You don't have to ask for a "paradigm shift" when you just want somebody to look at things in a new way. To be blunt, I never figured out what exactly "the box" was. All I know is that it was overused enough that Taco Bell was urging people to "think outside the bun," and when you're being parodied by a plate of Nachos Bell Grande you need to seriously rethink your approach to the language.

Trust me. I'm spot on with this assessment.