Thursday, April 2, 2009

Empty phrases/adjectives

I was listening to old Carlin comedy a few weeks ago and he had a routine about empty phrases/adjectives. What stood out in my mind was the phrase "personal belongings." 

Carlin questioned why we say this, because what are the other kinds of belongings that we may have? Carlin is a genius, and that really got me thinking. 

I don't know if this is specific to Americans, but I constantly come across this at work, and I am guilty of it as well. Why do we equate certain adjectives and phrases as sophisticated? I find it hard to believe when people say they have the "utmost respect" for someone, yet people say it all the time, and the recipients never question it. Why is that a custom that we are comfortable with? It is so rare that you earn any real praise, it is always "Kenny has exceeded expectations." 

We are just pre-programmed with phrases and adjectives that are supposed to mean something, but are just BS. 

If I have to read one more person say ASAP, I am going to kill myself. ASAP really means do it now if you didn't know. Also, when people say something like, "We appreciate your immediate attention," on an email in which you have not responded to yet. How can you appreciate something that hasn't happened yet? Anyway I thought I would have more to say about this, we are just a nation of fools is all. LATER. 

2 comments:

Erin Tustin said...

you should write a book called Nation of Fools after you learn all the badass skills from the other book.

Afif said...

Yeah this is why I have a "bad habit" of putting quotation marks around everything I write. Every single phrase feels like a cliché or something.