I'm sure everyone has pet peeves about language usage.

Today I received an email about computer security and the title was "Advanced Threat Report 2012." It reminded me of how often 'advanced' is used improperly, as when someone says '30 days advanced notice is required.' I've actually seen it this way in legal contracts and, of course, newspaper articles.

Turns out this particular email did use it properly: "This new report reveals the five advanced malware trends of 1H 2012-and how cybe
rcriminals are successfully evading today's traditional IT defenses."

In the process of researching whether catch phrases have a lifespan, I found this great website: Grammarist.

And this other great website: The Lake Superior State University Banished Words List.

It's interesting to go back several years to see what words and phrases we don't hear as much of any more, and also the ones that are still with us.

By the way, the 2012 list says 'amazing' is starting to be worn out and someone refers to it as the replacement for that worn-out piece of shit usage of the word 'awesome.' (That's my description, not theirs.) Except nobody told Sarah Palin, thirty-something women, and TV ad writers, so that usage is still with us, and lately it has started to show up in everything from car to cable tv ads, so we're stuck with it for at least another year or two. I am so grateful for TIVO and the mute button. And maybe all that exposure will wear it out once and for all, but then we'll all get sick of 'amazing' and beware of 'brilliant.'

Back in 1984 The LSSU list put a one-year moratorium on that word, and then it appeared on the list again in 2007:

"AWESOME -- Given a one-year moratorium in 1984, when the Unicorn Hunters banished it "during which it is to be rehabilitated until it means 'fear mingled with admiration or reverence; a feeling produced by something majestic." Many write to tell us there's no hope and it's time for "the full banishment."

"The kind of tennis shoes you wear, no matter how cute, don't fit the majestic design of the word." -- Leila Hill, Damascus, Maryland.

"That a mop, a deodorant or a dating service can be called 'awesome' demonstrates the limited vocabularies of the country's copywriters." -- Tom Brinkmoeller, Orlando, Florida.

"Overused and meaningless.' My mother was hit by a car.' Awesome. 'I just got my college degree.' Awesome." -- Robert Bron, Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand."

I didn't start this as a rant against that dumb word, but it got away from me.

I was going to post a picture of the fox, but the uploader is still broken.