Fingernails down a blackboard

Wednesday, 11:40 am

By Kate

Jan

02

2008

If I never hear the word surge again, it would still be too soon. What an overused word that has become. Every darn time I read an article about anything, there seems to be some sort of surge going on. How did people express themselves before surge became the word of the hour? This has been grating on me for quite a while. Every time I run across it, I want to shriek in pain—a daily occurrence, now.

Evidently, I’m not the only one. Reuters reports that the word is included in a U.S. university’s annual list of words and phrases that deserve to be banned. I hope journalists pay attention. The article is entitled “Perfect Storm” of cliches make bad English list.