Misused and overused

Overused words and phrases

1. Empowerment - Used to denote the acquisition of self determination and sense of worth, "empowerment " is a great word. Unfortunately, it has been hijacked by essentially every  purveyor of  software because, like "chocolate",   it sounds good. The percentages of users who feel "empowered " by Microsoft, is almost certainly dwarfed by the number of users who would truly feel "empowered" by chucking their monitor through the nearest window when Windows freezes.

2. "That's why there's..."    This phrase seems to manifest itself toward the beginning of just about every "new"  drug hype these days, as in "That's why there's ....Xarelto, Zeljanz, Spiriva, etc."  The implication seems to be that these drugs have always existed and in a rare evolutionary event, the malady developed to give the drug some  sense of purpose. Truth in advertising would run more like..."These ailments, which have always existed, offer us a new, and extremely lucrative  market for treatment modalities, even if the list of side effects is longer than the Dallas phone book."  Now, "Thats' why there's........"!!

3. The word "technology" about 90% of the time.  In the post WWII age, the world rapidly became a more technical place. The word technology describes the application of  higher, technical/scientific  principles to development of those things which, in some cases actually merit the use of the term.  Radar technology, for example, helps avoid mid air collisions between planes, warns us of bad weather, etc. Using the word "technology"  to describe the way a dusting mop works seems a bit gratuitous. Damned near every commercial these days trumpets the application of  "..... technology."  It's usually irrelevant and overblown. it's also invariably touted as "beneficial" (you know, like fracking?) How long until  the makers of a plastic pooper scooper advertise it as the "paradigm of fecal relocation  technology?"  Perhaps an improved hammer using "Metallic impact determinance technology?"  The late George Carlin said, " If you nail together two things that no one has ever nailed together before, some schmuck'll buy it!"  He was right, of course, and Dorman's corrollary is that "If you nail these two things together and describe them as  "new technology", many schmucks will buy it."

4. "Reality."  You might  think such a simple word would retain its simple meaning and, in truth,  it has- except in the world of television, where "reality shows" have been all the rage for the past ten years or so.  Webster's defines reality thus: " The world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them. In real life, in the world as it actually exists, "housewives" don't live in mansions and actually have hard jobs involving a myriad of domestic tasks on a daily basis. In the real world, moms don't generally urge their voluptuous but mentally  marginal daughters to make porno films to gain popularity. In the real world, most people of conscience and/or taste would eschew any sort of contact with an inbred clan of racist, homophobic, hillbilly  duck call makers. Reality can be harsh enough, and kids are constantly challenged to just grow up to become functional adults. what sort of message do we send by citing as "reality"  a Honey Boo Boo,  Dance Moms, Life with the Kardashians, ad infinitum, ad nauseum?