# 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-scale … going .…. :
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: ….. : ](https://www.afl.com.au/news/369762/the-sickening-collision-that-left-blue-s-career-on-the-brink)
[brain damage](https://www.afl.com.au/news/369762/the-sickening-collision-that-left-blue-s-career-on-the-brink)
… 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