Worn-Out Words

Words that were once selectively used and reserved for special occasions often find their way into daily use, diluting their power. This overuse makes extraordinary words mundane. It’s like that line spoken by the villain Syndrome in Disney’s animated film The Incredibles: “And when everyone’s super, no one will be.”

Worn-Out Word #1: Awesome

I’ve heard teachers use it to compliment students for turning on their screen devices. 

Three young women helping a friend shop described five successive dresses with this word.

As skateboarders practice their tricks, the ever-present exclamation is, “Awesome!” 

Direct Opposition

This word’s overuse has put it in direct opposition to its intentional meaning.

The very nature of awesome is grounded in almost unimaginable greatness or power, both good and bad. Awesome should be reserved for the truly extraordinary. It's about the things that take our breath away, that make us pause and contemplate. Awesome things amaze, astound, and sometimes put the fear of a greater power into us.

So, What Should Be Described as Awesome?

The majestic vitality of the Kenai Mountains surrounding Resurrection Bay in Seward, Alaska.

The horses’ pounding on the track reverberating on your chest while you stand near the fence at the Kentucky Derby. 

The power and grace of what you revere or venerate.

Responsibilities, especially when circumstances prove overwhelming, and you must overcome great odds to live up to them.

The power of a tornado striking in the middle of the night, albeit the terrifying version. After a tornado imploded our windows and forced us to take cover in the basement during the wee hours of the morning, I can attest to its awesome power.

Say This Instead

It's a straightforward task to turn on a screen device unless you have faced significant obstacles to accomplish it. The word “good” works fine in this case, “great” if it was challenging.

Only when a fairy godmother has provided the most stunning piece of fashion ever constructed—and these days, it takes a lot to stun folks with fashion—is a dress awesome. Dresses can be beautiful, provocative, lovely, eye-catching, inappropriate, charming, etc.

Not being familiar with most skateboarding phraseology, I hesitate to offer suggestions. However, I highly recommend cool and boss. Go ahead. Guess my age.

Worn-Out Word #2: Iconic

Iconic now means so much less than its intentional meaning. 

Iconic is the adjective form of the noun “icon.” An icon was originally a painting of a revered saint that was used in daily devotional practice. Because of their importance and influence, icons expanded beyond religious use. People created secular icons, which became symbols for certain areas of life or spheres of influence. Icon morphed into the adjective that is no longer of any importance or influence.

Campaigns

In advertising, “iconic campaigns” launch images and slogans that not only sell a product, service, or idea, but they become part of the culture as easy-to-remember symbols.

A smiling Santa holding a curvy glass of cola is a good example of an iconic campaign for an internationally distributed brand of brown carbonated beverage. 

A smoking ungulate (you know—that desert animal with a hump?) has led an iconic campaign for cancer sticks for years.

However, our daily use of the word is destroying the ability for anything to be a lasting, iconic figure in real life or in advertising campaigns.

Platform Overuse

The biggest culprit in the overuse of iconic: social media. Every day, people describe hundreds of looks, moves, hairstyles, and performers in all genres as iconic on social media platforms, which is a problem. (This happens regardless of the number of letters in the platform’s title or whether images move or remain stationary.) On a streamed radio station, I recently heard how Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel are now considered the "iconic original leads" of the 20-year-old Broadway musical Wicked. 

Heck, we use icons all the time in computer programs, in signage, and in airline instructional pamphlets. Icons have become emojis, which simplify language to the point of not needing the alphabet, words, phrases, or sentences to communicate. 

Say This Instead

Memorable. Singular. Outstanding. Symbolic. Exemplary. Well-recognized. Well-established. Influential. Admired. Significant. Influential. Emblematic. Representational. Again, cool and boss.

A Challenge and a Question

Try reserving “awesome” and “iconic” for spectacularly special events, images, and life moments. Make the very words themselves represent their intended meanings.

What words strike you as overused?