Back in December the radio program “A Way With Words” came out with a list of the top words of 2013. While I’m charmed by a couple of them, they mostly make me feel old and cranky. Here’s hoping the pendulum swings back toward using ACTUAL words one of these days.
WORDS I LIKED
-Batkid – For the 5-year-old with leukemia who the Make A Wish Foundation transformed into Batman for a day. Most of San Francisco was in on it. Now that’s word-worthy.
-Cronut – A croissant, donut hybrid. It’s not much as a word, but sounds so utterly delicious I’ll forgive it.
WORDS THAT SHOULD BE BANNED BECAUSE THEY’RE NOT WORDS
-Bae – An abbreviation for baby or babe. Really? Are you too tired to get the second syllable out?
-Doge – An intentional misspelling of dog. Umm–why?!?
-Feels – Short for feelings. Come on folks, it’s already a word in its own right. Leave it alone!
-Selfie – Unfortunately I think we all know that this is a self-portrait taken with a cell phone. When Van Gogh did a self-portrait that was worth looking at. I’ve yet to see a selfie that is.
-Vax – Short for vaccine. Again, because it’s just too hard to say the whole word.
If you want the full list, you can check it out HERE. Some of them at least reference our culture in an interesting way like “lean in” as a business philosophy for women. But most of these words make me think we’re just getting too lazy to actually speak anymore. Texting as language. Egad.
Meet Sarah
Oh, dearie me. There are some words and phrases that I would gleefully consign to the memory hole.
Selfie – we agree on that one
Vaycay – if you can’;t say vacation, you don’t deserve one
Partay – sounds as sophisticated as a bone worn in the nose
Pees and deets – my peeps will call your peeps with the deets for the partay…sheesh.
Jaw-dropping – go to a mirror and execute the action, and you’ll see why this has to go
OK, off the soapbox!
It was supposed to be ‘peeps and deets’. Sorry!
Amen to all of the above. I also vote we ban “veggies” and “sammies” from the food lexicon.