Time and banned words

[Jonathan Lighter]

These annual lists are hardly more than publicity stunts.  Some of the words
are moderately obnxious because they're overused unnecessarily to the point
of cliche'.  Those who use them, apparently, think they're being clever, but
we know better.

Others, like "Tweet," are nearly indispensible, just new and popular.

"Czar" has been around for decades (headline writers love it).  Why should
it be "banned" now?

All very foolish, and I think that more of the publications reprinting the
list are laughing at it than with it.

JL


On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 9:37 AM, David Barnhart <dbarnhart at highlands.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       David Barnhart <dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
> Subject:      Time and banned words
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Jan. 18th issue of Time magazine has a column under the "Short List"
> (p.
> 67) entitled "Say No More: 2010's Banned Words."
>
>
>
> I'm sure most of us who watch language day-to-day shudder at the audacity
> of
> some in academia to suppose they can prompt people to forgo the use of such
> terms as:
>
> _shovel-ready_
>
> _transparent/transparency_
>
> _Czar_
>
> _Tweet_, the verb
>
> _app_
>
> _stimulus_
>
> And _Obama_-.
>
>
>
> The only thing that can be said for this list (year-to-year) is that some
> people are paying attention to what and how they're speaking.
> Prescriptivity is such a fruitless undertaking except for momentary
> amusement.  Are the practitioners of such prescriptive activity infringing
> on the right of free speech?  Perhaps somebody ought to sue them.
>
>
>
> DKB
>
>
>
> Barnhart at highlands.com
>
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