Argh, not everything’s amazing
Words worth scrapping, not #trending
Graphic: Alyssa Smith
Aaron Chatha
Staff Writer
Editor’s note: The following story contains some material, which may be considered offensive.
Are you sick and tired of everyone describing things as “amazing?” Has “occupy” been thrown around so much lately that it’s lost all meaning? Does the term “baby bump” make you want to punch a pregnant woman?
These are just three terms Lake Superior State University has found so revolting that they’ve released a 2012 list of banished words, so everyone else will know just how disgruntled they are.
The list tops off with “amazing,” probably because people got sick of hearing “awesome” so often, but lack the imagination to come up with something better. Personally, I’m super glad that “amazing” was included on the list as it’s become a lazy adjective and you wouldn’t catch me dead ever using it in my writing.
The amazing thing about this list is that it’s the result of student input, not just from the school, but students as far as the UK and Israel chimed in their opinions. After “amazing” the list goes as follows: baby bump, shared sacrifice, occupy, blowback, man cave, the new normal, pet parent, win the future, trickeration, ginormous and thank you in advance.
Not a bad list, although I’ve never heard the word trickeration before. It’s apparently used a lot by football analysts, but I think people could stand to use it a lot more in every day speech.
In my most humble — and usually right — opinion, there are a few words and terms the list missed.
First of all, anything with –mageddon attached to it. The most grievous example is carmageddon. Referring to an epic traffic jam in L.A., it started off sounding like a joke, but within hours every news organization was using the term. It’s not fun, this is news, it’s serious business, and it’s screwing up good search results when I’m looking for the old video game where I battled other cars and ran people over.
Since then, many news organizations have tried affixing the term to other stories, with much less success. It’s like a little kid taking his pants off in public to get a laugh, not realizing everyone is laughing at him, not with him. After a point, everyone is just wondering where this kid’s parents are.
The other word that’s really grinding my gears, totaling my rotor or punching my gut lately is the word retard. I suppose this is an issue that’s never really gone away, but it’s a poor and inconsiderate word choice for any situation. It’s derogatory towards a certain group of people, and wouldn’t idiot, pee stick or STD-infested jerk face work just as well, or even better?
Finally, the last term that I’m sick and tired of hearing is unfortunately one that everyone else seems to use constantly. It seems like every hour someone walks up to me and says, “Aaron, you so handsome.”
Look, I know how ridiculously good looking I am, and thank you, I do appreciate it, but I don’t need all the constant reminders. And if you’re going to say it, at least pick a specific part of me to compliment, like my rippling biceps, or sex-fantasy inducing eyes.
Just calling me handsome is generic and lazy, and will win you no brownie points.
Agree, disagree with the Lake Superior’s list, or mine? Give us a shout on Twitter, or stop by and say hi. Just don’t go out of your way to call us amazing — we already know we are.
“Does the term “baby bump” make you want to punch a pregnant woman?”
Really? I don’t care how funny Mr. Chatha believes he is, this is an incredibly offensive statement and in fact somewhat representative of a generation that trivializes issues like violence against women. How did the editor of the Reflector not catch this?
Hi Jane,
Aaron did not intend on being offensive in any way. I’ve added a disclaimer at the top of the page, but am open to further discussion: Publishingeditor@thereflector.ca. Thank you for the feedback. – Bryan
The fact that you believe that the solution lies in a disclaimer as opposed to acknowledging the fact that this was a disturbing choice of phrase on the author’s part speaks volumes to me about the validity of my first statement. I am going to pass this article around to friends and colleagues and get their opinion on the matter. It would be interesting to have Aaron Chatha defend his use of this phrase. Why does he believe it’s ok to conjure up imagery of punching a pregnant women to get his point across. Why not express frustration to the person using the term “baby bump”?
It’s not intended to be a solution, but an acknowledgement of the subject matter’s serious nature. Again, I know Aaron wasn’t trying to be disrespectful, nor was The Reflector. Your feedback is taken seriously, and our editors will talk with him about it.
It’s my role as Publishing Editor to deal with such matters, and I welcome further discussion in-person, through email or in a letter to the editor, which we would consider for publication.
-Bryan
Hi Jane!
I thought baby bump was a pretty stupid term to banish, so I came up with the stupidest reaction to it I could think of. It was a very extreme way to express my frustration over the term ending up on the list. I thought it was a dumb addition.
If you look to the second paragraph, the intent was to show I was a bit displeased that anyone would hate these words enough to “banish” them. I used a heavy dose of sarcasm.
It’s a very extreme joke that some people will find hilarious and some do not find funny at all. It’s like comparing Bill Cosby to Dave Chappelle. Both their standup routines revolve around situational comedy, but the language and delivery are worlds apart. I chose a different route than what you would probably laugh at – doesn’t mean I was trying purposefully to be offensive.
Comedy, of course, is a very subjective thing. A drama teacher once told me it’s harder to make an audience laugh than it is to make them cry.
So, it was not my intent to offend anyone with the article, but just reading your comments, I think you were a bit too quick to judge. I don’t find the image of punching a pregnant woman funny at all, and neither should anyone else, but the idea that someone could be that angry at the word Baby Bump? Now that’s the punchline.
Whether it’s worth a laugh or not is up to you
Thanks for the lesson on comedy Aaron. This isn’t about being funny. It’s also not about good intentions, the simple fact that you would be willing to reach for that image to make a joke and be able to intend nothing offensive by it indicates something disturbing about our comfort with violence against women. Perhaps you do find punching women inoffensive and couldn’t imagine anyone feeling otherwise, but your good intentions on that score don’t undercut what’s troubling about what you have written here and what the editor decided to publish. It’s the fact that a joke like this could still be deemed acceptable while “Doesn’t the term “dim sum” make you want to punch a chinese person?” probably (I hope) wouldn’t shows that we still have quite a ways to go in reforming and raising our consciousness.
Jane, don’t trip off the soap box whilst stepping down.