Chekhov's Mistress
A Word on Words
“think outside the box” Snarking, Rooneying
I’m always amazed when I still hear the phrase, “think outside the box.” As though the speaker hasn’t figured out that if you are using that phrase, you are clearly not. I know that syntax sticklers think there should be some sort of grammar police, but I think we should take that further and have a set of banality laws forbidding triteness and pedantry. Surely I sound like a snob, but I get tired of writers using
words like “quotidian” and tech people saying “I’m in the _________ space.” I was in a business meeting yesterday and had to endure a dozen or so “I’ll ‘tee up’ a call with _______.” That one was new to me, but I’m sure it will surface again soon. I was reading the latest issue of Believer last night and laughed to myself when I saw the word “snark” once again. It’s as if everyone wants to belong, so, like teenagers dying their hair, they latch on to whatever lingo that will insure that everyone knows they are members of the club.
I feel better now that I have this out of my system. I would say that this was just a rant, but that too is one the more popular words that has outlived its useful life. Perhaps we should call this sort of complaining something like “Rooneying,” after Andy Rooney, the kvetch who appears on Sixty Minutes every Sunday.
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About this Post
- Posted by: Bud Parr
- Date: May 18, 2004
- Filed Under:
Wise Men Fish Here: Literature
- Comments:0
- Links to this Post: Technorati
