"war" = brief, if heated, media controversy

[Jonathan Lighter]

Just when you (i.e., I) thought no word could be sucked drier of its customary meaning, Fox News runs a spot touting an imminent disussion of "Smears, Lipstick Wars, and [something else I was too irritated to catch, but you get the idea]!!"
 
"War" has been a choice metaphor for anything involving a sustained difference of opinion since, I believe, the prominence of _Star Wars_ in thye late '70s. I first noticed this phenomenon around 1990, however, when an NPR report focused on "the latest battle in the metaphor wars."  I don't recall what that battle was about, but it did seem to be trivial and ephemeral.
 
Guess I'm just too sensitive. Forget it.
 
JL




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