Overused Words

Overused words

(under construction) (Game-poem: Guess the overused-word)

Got this friend -  great conversationalist - but he does pepper his sentences with the odd verbal tic.  For example, he loves saying:  if that makes sense

Finally i said: yeah - it does.  What doesn’t make sense is why you keep saying if that makes sense.  If that makes sense? 

He said: Why are you being snide about unimportant things?

& … he’s dead right. Get. A ….. (guess):   

Life.  

There’s nothing wrong with overusing a phrase.  It’s a verbal life-hack that empowers people to express their ….. :    

agency

I acknowledge & respect all of that. It’s only i’ve recently touched-base back in Australia from Taiwan - noticed a growing cohort of overused words  - started recording some ….. :  

obviously

Uhmm … now i’d like to … unpack that

Initially, returning to live in an over-used-word-world reality, was well within my ….. :       

comfort-zone  

… re-connecting to a cultural familiarity … it was … noice 

But in the process i did start to detect an increase in overused words, leading to an exponential …..  : 

spike 

It’s now reached a level that’s ….. :                      

unprecedented

I’m worried about the existential threat 

on a global-scalegoing .…. : 

forward 

It’s time to flatten ….. :

the-curve 

As AI subsumes humans with its next-level imaging - where you can’t tell what’s fake or not - will everything be a predictive overused phrase? 

How will we know a red flag is really ….. : 

red?

What used to be simple Truth.  has been repurposed as:  … : 

Messaging

To be honest …  to be honest is another overused phrase.   I switched on the idiot box when i got back to watch some AFL footy … as you do …  

Bruce McAvaney said:   It’s a beautiful day here in Melbourne … to be absolutely honest  

Yes Bruce,  you’re being honest,  coz it is a fine day …  but why would anyone not be candid about that?  Especially in Melbourne. It’s an overuse overdose.  

 

Now,  if you were to say:  To be honest, there’s a frightening number of footballers suffering permanent: ….. :  

brain damage 

… for our amusement, & my personal enrichment…  then …  that would be a correct usage

Or:  Now it’s over to Nathan Brown at Sports Bet for our latest market update - though to be perfectly honest, Browny, gambling is an addictive drug  that causes social harm. As a Wokey-Pokey Industry, how do we

sit with pedalling that?

Not gonna ….. :  

happen

To be honest - who cares?  Just maybe not flog it every day of the week the way you flog every day of the week every day of the week

But i don’t want to knock media commentators - especially Bruce McErvaney - i love Bruce - he’s so passionate … about sports entertainment … heee’s  … (guess): Iconic

Iconic

But i don’t want to knock media commentators - especially Bruce McErvaney - i love Bruce - he’s so passionate … about … sports entertainment … heee’s  … : 

Iconic

When i left Australia in 96, an icon was a statuette of The Blessed Virgin Mary - or Jesus  -  Dying-on-the-Cross … for our sins … ! 

When i arrived back,  it’d come to mean: vaguely representative of … something ... anything … so long as it’s commercial

Coming up next: the real life story of an Iconic Aussie breakfast-show-host who can’t stop saying:   Iconic

With other overused words - it’s fine - i don’t care - some  i like  when they first emerge  - they capture the zeitgeist of our Orwellian ….. : 

dystopia

But iconic - yeah, i do actually have a mental/physical … :  

health condition 

When i hear it, it’s ….. : 

triggering

This condition involves:  shortness of breath, a tightening in the chest …  & ...  projectile…. :

vomit

So here’s a reality check - for our peeps in the front row: the following may contain ….. : 

graphic content

Last Saturday, late-morning, i went to Bunnings to buy a door-handle 

I got a good park, as normal 

As soon as i stepped out of the car, i could smell the iconic  ….. : 

Bunnings sausage & onion sanga 

I followed that smell, Homer Simpson-style, then ate one in the iconic carpark.  It’s so spacious …  

I gazed up at the teal-green & orange-red color scheme of this huge Tin Shed.  It stirred something deep inside me (rub stomach) … this modern Aussie Church … with its iconic image of …… : 

The Hammer

Instead of … The Cross

It looks rather sinister … now i think about it …   

If you’re gonna replace Jesus-nailed-to-the-cross as an Icon … &  your symbol is: The Hammer  …  it’s a bit ….. :

tone-deaf 

Step-right-in - you can buy The Nails inside - or hey, why not upgrade ..? To a nail-gun … !

Feeling somewhat uneasy,  i entered the store. That was the …. :  sliding doors moment (figuratively - Bunnings doesn’t have sliding doors - it has shutters)

I do remember thinking, as i gripped the iconic XL trolley & yanked it out:  Turn back it’s not too late 

My gut instinct was telling me:  You’ve had a gut-full of of sausage fat, & iconic thoughts.   Step-the-fuck-away from Icon Town

Serendipitously, a friendly, bearded, Bunnings salesperson appeared - totally iconicly 

He kindly accompanied me to aisle number 13 … the door handle aisle

This is a good but not too expensive brand we stock, he said, holding up a Bunnings/made-in-China door-handle  

It’s called … Ikonic


That was the tipping-point, right there  

A perfect  …..  : 

storm ….    

of sausage & onion … gone ….. : 

mad

 

He was shocked … i was mortified.   He was a really noice iconic guy … who  reacted … not toooo bad … considering   

Thank the Lord Jesus … in a blue shawl -  he was wearing his iconic Bunnings ….. : 

apron  

… which turned out to be his saviour

 

Disclaimer: the above may or may not have happened as described - it could just be my self-serving …:

narrative