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 tha t 
 
 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: ….. :

 
 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