Words I Loathe
Change: From Buzzword to Blasphemy
Sunday, January 25th, 2009 | Words I Loathe | 1 Comment
When I’m watching television and hear the word “change” oozing from the mouth of a politician, a rush comes over my body and I am possessed to change the channel. Change is good, but the saturation of “change” in the word market is bad.
Dubbed by Time as the top buzzword of 2008, “change” started off with good intentions. Barrack Obama said, “It’s time for a change.” Americans evaluated the economic and political conditions and said, “Yea, I think it probably is time for a change.” CEOs saw their corporations’ profits tank and said, “Shit, if things don’t change, I might be out of a job.” In essence, everyone hopped on the change bandwagon in hopes for a brighter tomorrow.
But here we are in January 2009 and “change” has transitioned from a buzzword to the most overused word in the country. Instead of connecting with the audience, “change” provokes listeners to tune out the conversation. Even PRSA, my parent association, infused “change” into the second posting of their new blog, PRSay, with “Change is Here - Are You Ready to Lead and Contribute?” Like we’ve never heard that before.
After 18 months of hearing and reading this word, I am ready for some high-ranking authority to call a cease and desist order. If “change” regurgitation continues, I fear the word will undoubtedly become bunkmates in word prison with “green.” As a wordsmith and advocate for word equality, I would like to issue a proclamation and banish “change” from our vocabulary. I guess you can say it’s time for a verbal change.
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