The old year has gone; a new one is upon us already. While some things haven’t changed with the coming of 2014, there is a rather long list of hackneyed words from 2013 that people would like evicted from our vocabulary this year.
It has been named ‘word of the year’ by The Oxford Dictionary but even those who use social networking sites say ‘selfie’ (a photograph taken of and by oneself to be uploaded on a social media site) is on everyone’s nerves. YOLO (you only live once) and hashtags, again popularised by social media sites are receiving much flak. “These aren’t words you say out loud,” says collegian Rohit D’ Souza who adds, “Instagram sure is a popular app but people who constantly post pictures of their food on Facebook and Twitter really annoy me. Foodstagramming must be banned and so should the words Photobomb and Throwback Thursday. Also, I don’t get why people use random so loosely. On Facebook, every other person has an album titled random.”
In every area there are words that were popular in 2013 that people would like to discard. As far as the dance/music scene goes, thanks to Miley Cyrus, the word ‘twerk’ though added to the Oxford Dictionary, is among those words people across the word would love banished this year.
Milan Vohra, advertising professional and author of Tick-tock we’re 30 , says: “If there is one word I'm severely allergic to, it is awesome. It is a one word cliché that is used much too generically. It shows a person is just plain lazy or lacks the vocabulary to find a more appropriate word. ‘Anyways’, ‘like totally’ and ‘isn't that the sweetest?’ are other phrases I detest.”
She adds: “Phrases such as ‘return back’, ‘revert back’, ‘free gift’, ‘advance planning’, ‘alternate choices’ and ‘end result’ should be banned. Ditto for overused corporate jargon such as ‘going forward’, ‘paradigm shift’, ‘game changer’, ‘having said that’, ‘it’s a no-brainer’, ‘win-win’, ‘all things considered’, or ‘at the end of the day’. As for people who say things like ‘let’s think out of the box’, I wish I could tape up their mouths and say ‘can we just think first, never mind if it’s inside or outside the box!’”
In the realm of food, Jeeva George, founder of Jeeva-Glutenfreeliv.in opines: “We’ve had an overdose of ‘health food’, ‘sugar free’, ‘high-fibre’ and ‘organic’. Words such as ‘high fibre’ and ‘health food’ are misleading because health food definitions are relative. A celiac cannot have high-fibre granola or oats nor can an autistic kid have so called health drinks.”
According to Jeswin Chacko, chef of a standalone restaurant, “Words such as ‘foodie’, ‘food blogger’, ‘fine dining’ and ‘molecular gastronomy’ have been used a lot in 2013 and a good reason not to use them as much this year is because they are almost always used out of context.”
On the fashion circuit, designers are weary of people calling everything couture. “Not every designer is a couturier!” says stylist Asma Sunher. “I hate the word ‘hi-fashion’.”
And while we try to refrain from using these words, 12 months from now, there will definitely be a new list for what else should be shown the door.
