A few expressions I’m tired of hearing:
- He/she/they “drank the Kool-Aid.” I know the documentary on Jonestown is coming out, but I don’t think that’s why this particular expression has been on everyone’s lips this year. I’d like to keep such a simile for places where it really applies; after all, nearly a thousand people died, so let’s please have a little respect, thank you very much.
- “The Surge.” I had a very interesting conversation about that with Edmund last night; he’d heard someone discuss it on NPR, and it seems someone has decided “surge”, unlike “permanent increase of troops in Iraq”, is thought to sound peppy, energetic, and temporary. To me, it sounds of tidal waves, floods, storms, or my computer being fried by lightning and an improperly grounded line — in other words, disasters. So maybe that makes it the perfect word, but damn, that’s a stupid one and I’m tired of it.
- “Meme.” Just because something is a fad, a cliché, or a bromide doesn’t make it a meme (though I admit most memes are clichés).
The Reef 