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WORDS AND CATCH PHRASES

 

How appropriate to read Lake Superior State University’s annual list of words/phrases that are to be banished at years end!  What a great idea!  Like a de-cluttering of the English language!  A year-end wrap up of acceptable words and non-acceptable words. uh…… “How cool is that?” (That phrase will NEVER be banished!!)

I don’t speak any foreign language, albeit a touch of Latin from my Catholic upbringing, but I wonder if other languages have catch phrases, or slang, or nicknames?  I wonder when you take a second language if it includes teaching slang or catch phrases?

At any rate, some of the words that have been banished this year,

• “from Wall Street to Main Street”;
• “winner of five nominations”
• “economic meltdown” hasn’t been chosen YET but soon will be!
• “change” (even though we desperatly need some!)
• “maverick”
• “first dude”  (adopted by Todd Palin, Sarah Palin’s husband)
• “Joe the Plumber”  (see what happens when you give a public opinion?
• “Main Street” vs. “Wall Street” (puleasssssssssse!)
• “At this point in time” (this gets nominated every year!)
• “Get a Life” (this phrase was banished in the 1997 list)
• “monkey”  (mainly used in connection with internet catch phrases)
• “going green”  (This had the highest nominations for tiresome words needing to be banished)

So what would be YOUR favorite words or catch phrase to eliminate for the year 2009?

I for one will always use my favorites, banished or not…as we get older we are “creatures of habits” (which is one of my favorites!).  At any rate, I love to say, “no way” or “you’ve got to be kidding”, then there is “for sure” and not to be forgotten, “duh!”  (the best way to insult someone is always with the word “duh” that makes THEM feel stupid….uh, duh! (how stupid can I be!)

Please write and let me know what YOUR favorite slang/catch phrase is…I’m sure with many sales people out there, hundreds of words can be added to the list! 

Sales:

• “For a limited time only”
• “time is running out”
• “hurry in while supplies last”
• “not sold in stores” (and they always are at the speciality stores)

O.k. let’s get our own list going!  In the meantime, a very Happy and Prosperous New Year to one and all and let’s hope from “Wall Street to Main Street”   “Change” is here at last!   A good one of course…duh!

Let’s keep moving right along in our new blog dictionary, providing research of the word, “Geek”.

In the 1991 edition of Webster’s dictionary, it claimed Geek as being “the name of a carnival man whose act involved biting the head off a live chicken or snake.” It also stated that the first time it was used in the English language was in 1916 describing a Wells Fargo Messenger. The quote read, “A new Wells agent struck our town the other week, and say, – you never saw a more enthusiastic Geek!”

But according to the most authoritative source of information, the Oxford English Dictionary claims that the word came from a German word, “Geck”, which was used to describe a fool, a simpleton and also cited that William Shakespeare used the word in several of his plays.

Modern day translates the word Geek as merely an updated form of the word, “nerd”, but is described as less pejorative in tone. Meaning, it just sounds nicer.

“Geek” has become more popular in the modern day, because descriptively, it is one who not only became obsessed with their computer, but also achieved a high level of expertise in their field.

However, the connotation remains, that a geek is a negative thing…something we don’t want to be!
“But wait,” you ask yourself, “why should I be a Geek”? I mean ewwww!! Geeks don’t have friends; Geeks have no personality and lack social graces; Geeks are boys who are not jocks, or girls who will never favor the cheerleading circuit. However, the contradiction might imagine Einstein was a Geek, as was Beethoven, and perhaps even some hero’s like Rocky, or Star Track heroes. So, is Geek a good word or an unkind one?

A very clever professor, at the university where he teaches, proposed a speech to new inbound students, suggesting a new meaning of the word Geek. He challenged the dictionary enthusiasts of the world to adopt a more profound acceptable description of the word. His definition was meant to reach thousands of students and educators around the world.

His suggestion of the word GEEK:

Genuine Enthusiast for Education and Knowledge.

The professor told his students that there are Music Geeks, Literature Geeks, and Psychology Geeks; there are Geeks of Business, Geeks of Education, and Geeks of the Arts. But the most important message he gave, was that today’s Geeks were the creators in society, not just the consumers. So he felt Geek was a good word.

Well, that does sound promising and very optimistic. That’s taking a word and making something positive out of it. But I don’t know many words that we could do that with…but let’s think about that for a moment.

We could take for instance, the word devil. Now that meaning is practically written out for us…
d (= damning), evil. That would be one meaning, or it could mean,

Don’t Eliminate Verbiage In Language; or you too could be considered a Geek!

Maybe we should stick with the definition that describes us “Geeks” as oddballs, who eat chicken and beef, (but not snakes) and certainly without the heads!