Time and banned words

[Jonathan Lighter]

Cheap and stupid, of course.  But they can be laughing too.

Unless computers now do the editing....

JL

On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 1:51 PM, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Time and banned words
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I don't think the publications are laughing at all. They just see it as a
> cheap way to fill space with a story that requires no effort or actual
> reporting. It's not just linguistics, every Christmas you get the
> obligatory
> story about how NORAD is tracking Santa's progress across North America,
> and
> every vernal equinox you get the story about how you can stand an egg on
> its
> end.
>
> In the long run, these stories are damaging to the publications. The
> motivation behind them--cheap stories that have no real value--are one of
> the reasons subscriptions are in the dumpster. God forbid someone should go
> out and report on a real news story that might actually boost the
> publication's credibility and attract a loyal readership.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of
> Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 9:31 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Time and banned words
>
>  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
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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