Grunts from the Wordgrump (6)

Dead-On-Arrival Diction is the condition of words that have become cliched through misuse and overuse. Not to mention being annoying as hell.   Here are three examples running rampant.  Iconic is a word that has a dignified and noble function originating in art history.  Now it is used to describe perfectly ordinary rock songs and and sports figures who have managed to overstay their time.  If everything is "iconic" then  nothing is.

     I swear I will scream if I hear surreal  spoken by one more person describing an unexpected experience.  The use of the word "surreal" is never unexpected.  It is completely predictable.  You know it will be uttered when you hear the words, "I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  It was ______ ."   Well, no it wasn't "surreal."  Few things are.  Unless you want to make an intelligible connection between what has disturbed or frightened you and the intentionally fantastic images of surrealism in art, theater, or literature, then leave this word alone.

     Contemporary observations about political discourse find much to be negative about.  Understandably.  You will hear this said: "It's all just rhetoric ."  Political expression may bloviate and pontificate, be repetitious and ranting, or simplify and distort.  But what such  language almost never achieves is "rhetoric."  Rhetoric is an art and a craft.  It is language contructed with care in order to effectively communicate.  The body politic suffers from its absence not its presence. 

     The words you choose to use say something about your mind and your ability to discern.  Cliches and wear-worn phrases almost guarantee you will make no useful impression on your audience or your reader.

     And finally, get off my lawn!