Six Words Laurie Notaro Demands People Stop Using Right Now

dronaverill

Besides making me laugh out loud, my favorite part of this reading experience was that there's a column called "Now trending" on the same page. I had to put on my bracelets of power to repel the irony.

naoma

The one I hate the most is the STUPID BABY BUMP. Really a dumb phrase and the sooner it leaves the language, the better~!

hlmkeck

"Get your creative juices flowing" is the phrase that makes me cringe. Also, "Devil's advocate." Seriously, there must be something better than that.

OakyChard

1 Like

Add "curated" when applied to anything other than an exhibition or museum collection:

"Field & Sparrow is a curated collection of maker-made goods and clothing with a classic, yet playful and modern sensibility"

The same pretentious jackasses use "narrative" liberally

peteykins

1 Like

I'd like to add "double down" as the most overused phrase in political "journalism" over the past year.

figgie59

1 Like

Can I add one? Pop of color....ugh!

focus503

1 Like

I'll never say cray cray again, promise if only you can erase the word Delish from the vocabulary. It's not like nails on a chalk board, it makes my skin crawl.

bascolillo

2 Like

You are the MOST anti-anti-intellectual on the planet.

Michelle41

2 Like

You forgot "really" and "wait for it, wait for it"

LegitQuestions

1 Like

How about "natch" - a personal favorite of a new blog writer on this site.

laurienotaro

@LegitQuestions I hate natch, too. Full agreement there; maybe part two?

LegitQuestions

@laurienotaro

Maybe you can have a conversation with your colleague Mr. Lemons about it.

laurienotaro

@LegitQuestions Hee hee. Both.

LegitQuestions

@laurienotaro

Its the words that "natch" sounds like or makes you think of that are making you giggle.

laurienotaro

@LegitQuestions I don't know him, but it is making me giggle.

redcordelia

2 Like

Po-po is also a rage-inducing trigger word for me. My husband's family says it all the time and it makes me want to kill.

laurienotaro

Of course I looked it up, and within those sources you cited. But that's a hollow definition, and I still hate the word. A better definition is simply, "Where's the Beef?" or 'Got Milk?" Canker sores of culture!!

jmoriarty

@laurienotaro Is this a reply to my comment? It sounds like it, but is off floating on its own so hard to be sure.

"What does this mean?" doesn't sound like you looked it up. It sounds like you didn't realize it was anything more than a buzzword. Otherwise something like "99% of the people who use this word not only pronounce it wrong, they have no idea what it means." Or perhaps "I don't care if this word once had some scientific merit, it's been beaten to a soggy, cheezeburger filled pulp by the mindless minions of the internet."

There are many valid ways to express utter and complete disdain for this phrase. You just chose one that made it sound like you didn't know anything more about it than the people you derided for abusing it.

laurienotaro

@jmoriarty You need to go and do a puzzle. Or take your Adderall.

laurienotaro

@jmoriarty My deadline is next Thursday. Come up with something and send it over! I know you're just here for the boobs (we're all here for the boobs)>>>>>>>, but let's see whatcha got. And for your information, sonny, I have SIX real teeth left. SIX.

jmoriarty

@laurienotaro I just expect more from you - a nice balance between trolling and humor. This article and thread is too trollish, and too... easy. Get your teeth back in, Laurie, or go call it a night. We all have off days.

LionMage

1 Like

@laurienotaro Calling memes "canker sores of culture" (regardless of the number of trailing exclamation points) sort of misses the point since, if you accept the concept at all, you have to accept that culture is made up of memes. That's all culture, not just the parts you happen to dislike or disagree with. In fact, the examples you cite are just catch phrases, a subset of the various types of memes out there. Some are very old: Most of us are familiar with "head over heels (in love)."

What, pray tell, makes a definition "hollow"? That seems highly subjective, since the Wikipedia article actually does an OK job (and if you actually read through all of Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, I won't call BS on your response to @jmoriarty that you looked the definition up in all the sources he cited).

Usually, I enjoy reading about other people's linguistic nit picks, but this piece just struck me as anti-intellectual. Also curious that you'd pick on the admittedly weak post-apocalyptic dialect in Cloud Atlas. Not every writer is Anthony Burgess, alas.

This article is tagged literary but should perhaps be better categorized as "the author's personal (dis)tastes on parade."

laurienotaro

1 Like

@LionMage @jmoriarty You're the kitten guy, aren't you? Just say it. It's you. You are "Haz cheeseburger." All I can say is shame on you. Shame, shame, shame. And please get a better font. It's boring. You are making kittens boring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'd like you more if you used baby pigs instead. Or would that be "anti-intellectual"?

laurienotaro

@LionMage @jmoriarty Oh, and PS: I don't know how in the world you could ever call a story with the words "genital herpes" and "Ryan Seacrest" IN THE SAME SENTENCE "anti-intellectual"? Bozo.

jmoriarty

2 Like

"meme" is an idea or behavior that spreads from person to person within a culture. The word has oddly become a meme in its own right, but the term was coined in Richard Dawkin's book The Selfish Gene. There has been some serious research into the topic as the way ideas propogate can teach us a lot about the communication patterns within a culture. Memetic spread of ideas has been observed in not just humans, but also in how things like bird song changes in a flock.

So if you hate the word, hate on, but I'm rather surprised you didn't know its origin or full meaning. The Wikipedia article has some good LOL-cat-free background on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme