Worst Cliches Of 2007

Ken AshfordRandom MusingsLeave a Comment

Michigan’s Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie compiled a list of overused and tiresome phrases and cliches after receiving thousands of submissions.  It is suggested that we retire this phrases.

They are as follows (in order from worst to not-as-worse):

PERFECT STORM — a phrase used to describe any event that comes together as a result of other events

WEBINAR — A seminar on the web.  I confess to having never heard this but I agree with this guy:

"Yet another non-word trying to worm its way into the English language due to the Internet. It belongs in the same school of non-thought that brought us e-anything and i-anything." — Scott Lassiter, Houston, Texas.

Yeah, I hate e-anything and i-anything too.

WATERBOARDING — Refering to torture, not boogie boarding on water.  Sadly, I don’t think we can get rid of this word just yet, as it is in the news.

ORGANIC — Overused and misused to describe not only food, but computer products or human behavior, and often used when describing something as "natural".  You can see it on everything from shampoo to cereal to dog food.

WORDSMITH/WORDSMITHING — Creative use of words to hide meaning.  I actually kinda like this phrase.

AUTHORED — "Author" is a noun, not a verb.  You don’t meet people who "paintered" a painting, yes?

POST 9/11 — Yeah, I’m sick of this one too.

SURGE — No longer refers to electrical power or storms.  Just military.  And about everything else.

GIVE BACK — As in, "I just wanted to give back…", meaning to contribute to the community.

‘BLANK’ is the new ‘BLANK’ or ‘X’ is the new ‘Y’ — As in, "50 is the new 30" or "Orange is the new pink" or "Thursday night is the new Friday night" and so on and so on….

BLACK FRIDAY — The day after Thanksgiving when everyone goes shopping (followed by the equally annoying phrase "Cyber Monday", when everyone does there online shopping)

BACK IN THE DAY — It used to mean decades ago, but now people are using it to refer to a few years ago — like, "Back in the day when phones didn’t have built-in cameras…."

RANDOM — Teenagers use this alot, e.g., "That guy is so random".  I don’t know what it means in that context.

SWEET — Like "awesome", but sweeter.

DECIMATE — People have been using this word wrong for years.  It actually means to destroy one-tenth of something.  If I "decimate" you, I’m not really doing much damage.  Unfortunately, people use it to mean "annihalate" which is total devestation.

EMOTIONAL — Overused by reporters to describe a scene or a news story or a person.

POP — Overused on decorating shows, as in, "The addition of the red wainscotting really makes this room POP".

IT IS WHAT IT IS — Well, duuuuh!

UNDER THE BUS — Where people get thrown a lot these days.

Anything Happen When I Was Away?

Ken AshfordRandom MusingsLeave a Comment

Political assassinations?  Tigers on the loose?  Stuff like that?

UPDATE:  In case you missed, Channel 4 obtained new footage of the Bhutto assassination, showing that — contrary to the official government statement — she was struck by an assassin’s bullet before the bomb went off.

Merry Xmas, Y’all

Ken AshfordBloggingLeave a Comment

Headin off in a few hours to New Hampshire.  Gone for a week.  Won’t probably blog much.  It’s Xmas.

I was going to do this really awesome thing where you could track my whereabouts in realtime online as I drive through Virginia, up to Albany, and across Vermont.  Would have shown my EXACT location on a Google map, my altitude, how fast I’m going, etc.

But I couldn’t get the technology to work.  Almost did, and if I had another couple days of free time, maybe I coulda done it.  Oh well.

Be good, everyone.  Have happy holidays.

“Don’t Tase Me Bro”

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

That’s the catch phrase — the "Where’s The Beef" if you will — of 2007.

The Phoenix has a list of other catch phrases of the year, and when/how to use them.

Here’s the entry for the aforementioned DTMB:

CATCH PHRASE “Don’t Tase me, bro!”
ORIGINAL CONTEXT “By the time 2008 rolls around,” wrote our own Adam Reilly in September, “ ‘Don’t Tase me, bro!’ will have made ‘Where’s the beef?’ look downright timeless.” How wrong can an eagle-eyed and otherwise-faultless media correspondent be? Campus robo-cops may have given University of Florida student Andrew Meyer no quarter when he disrupted a speech by John “Mussolini” Kerry, but a grateful nation took him to its heart. Meyer’s blubbered and futile cry for mercy reaches out Job-like from the core of the human condition: who among us, threatened with the imminent application of reality’s mega-voltage zap gun, has not thought or uttered something similar?
USE IN EVERYDAY LIFE AS a retort to any perceived attempt to intimidate or apply pressure of an authoritarian nature.
EXAMPLE “Hey, this is a disabled parking space! You’re not disabled!”
“Don’t Tase me, bro.”

Unconstitutional Gifts

Ken AshfordCrimeLeave a Comment

The AP reports:

Motorists may be in for a surprise if they spot flashing red lights in their rearview mirrors in this Sacramento suburb [Rancho Cordova] during the holiday season.

Police are stopping law-abiding motorists and rewarding their good driving with $5 Starbucks gift cards.

A traffic officer came up with the idea to "promote the holiday spirit and enhance goodwill between the traffic unit and the motoring public," police Sgt. Tim Curran said….

It’s a nice idea (well, not really — see below), but it’s unconstitutional.  When a police officer forces you to stop, that a "seizure", defined as a situation "when the officer, by means of physical force or show of authority, has in some way restrained the liberty of a citizen." Under the Fourth Amendment, such seizures must be reasonable.  There are two categories of "reasonable" seizures: (1) when the officers has a reasonable suspicion that the person he "seized" has commited a crime (including a traffic violation); and (2) an administrative need relating to security or crime prevention (such as airport screening). Neither is present here, so the stop violates the Fourth Amendment.

I also don’t think it’s very nice.  I’m sorry, but most people don’t enjoy the experience of those flashing red light behind them, and being pulled over by an officer.  And a Starbucks gift certificate ain’t going to make them feel better.

But here’s my question….

What if the driver refuses to stop and just keeps driving, albeit below the speed limit?  Can he be charged with a crime (i.e., "fleeing law enforcement")?

Miss America: Reality Check?

Ken AshfordWomen's Issues2 Comments

Hat-tip to Heather Handy Heather Maple-dew-Who, who has the low-down.

It’s a four-part "reality series" on TLC, starring all 52 Miss America contestants.  According to the TLC release:

The premiere episode begins when the 52 state winners arrive at the mansion in full pageant regalia – dresses, sashes and crowns. Immediately they meet their host Michael Urie who delivers the painful news that Miss America is perceived as being outdated in contemporary society. Quickly crushed, their hopes are restored when they discover that TLC is giving Miss America a makeover! Everything the girls have spent their entire lives training for is about to change.

Through a series of events and challenges, the girls will be retrained with the new criteria for Miss America and be put to the test. This is meant to revolutionize not only their look, but the whole package – their attitude, how they carry themselves and the way they relate to the everyday world.

[Emphasis mine].

Here’s how it reads from the Miss America PR department:

For the first time in history, MISS AMERICA: REALITY CHECK brings all 52 contestants together to live under one roof to undo everything they have learned about pageant basics and determine if their smarts, attitudes and looks hold up in contemporary society.  Led by host Urie, the girls participate in an intense set of events and challenges designed to prepare them for the finale event, a renewed competition that will redefine what it takes to be Miss America, a relatable and individual ‘it girl’ who can connect with today’s modern woman.

That all sounds well and good, but I wonder if that is just hype for the TLC show (and, by extension, the pageant).  I was curious to see exactly what this "new criteria" is for the competition, and at the Miss America website, it looks pretty much the same (in fact, it is the same — the current website page is from 2006):

Finals Competition Scoring

The scoring for the Miss America Finals Competition is weighted accordingly:

  • Composite Score – 30% (Top 10)
  • Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit – 20% (Top 10)
  • Evening Wear – 20% (Top 10)
  • Talent – 30% (Top 5)
  • On-stage Question (Top 3)
  • Final Ballot – Each judge ranks the final three contestants in the order he/she believes they should each finish. The outcome of the pageant is based solely on the point totals resulting from the final ballot.

Now, perhaps I am missing something.  After all, this only shows the weight given each category and not what criteria is set out within each category.  I still don’t know exactly what the judges are charged with looking for, or how it differs from previous years.

I guess I’ll have to watch TLC to find out.