THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 10, 1996 TAG: 9601100648
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
The first word to be proposed for banning in 1996 is the prefix ``cyber,'' which is becoming attached to everything under the sun.
Until this writing, I had avoided it, shrinking from using any word beyond my comprehension, especially one that nearly everybody else is using.
You won't find cyber defined unto itself, even in the big dictionary; but it appears, from a discussion with my colleagues, that it applies to any human activity that falls with the domain of computers. Maybe you can come up with a precise and, I hope, brief analysis.
It is a kudzu word that is overrunning the language as happens with so much computer-speak. Scholars at Lake Superior State University nominated it as one of the words to be banned this year. Or, certainly, pruned.
A phrase that was catchy at its origin - ``done deal'' - has become stale through endless repetition. It will never cross my lips. I'd feel a fool saying something was a done deal. ``Done!'' or ``Deal!'' should do.
Another phrase, now worn out, is ``Been there! Done that!'' It was a clever line the first time, wherever it occurred; now it has become trite from being parroted. Over and over. Also suffering from being used ad nauseum is the word ``frankly,'' especially as it crops up in speeches by Newt Gingrich, speaker of the House. In a speech in late November, he used ``frankly'' 14 times.
The suspicion is that when a politician resorts often to such a disarming adverb, he is not aiming at being open but is bent on dissembling, trying to hide an intent.
Lake Superior's superiors also deplore the incessant use of ``absolutely,'' a four-syllable adverb as a substitute for the simple, sweet single word ``yes.''
I can't think of any situation in which ``yes'' would not be not preferred to ``absolutely.''
You get on your knees and ask the idol of your life if she will marry you, and she comes back with ``Absolutely!'' It sort of takes the air out of romance.
You hear ``absolutely'' most often on talk shows, particularly in exchanges between two or more authorities on sports.
Nearly every third or fourth question draws an ``absolutely,'' perhaps because opinions on any topic touching sports tend to be emphatic, expressed with vigor. Also, panelists often have to fill empty interludes during games, and it takes four times as long to say ``absolutely'' as it does ``yes.''
Hundreds of people nominate words for banishment, sending cards and letters to Lake Superior State University, Office of Public Relations, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. 49783.
Or, if you like, call or write me and I'll pass them along to Sault Ste. Marie. Thereby you may convey your opinions twice in print. Emphatically. by CNB