It's time, says Anita Aikara, we said bye to the most overused words and phrases of 2016.
Year end means clearing out your closets and ridding yourself of unwanted stuff... including overused (and at times, highly misused) vocabulary too!
We have all fallen prey to peppering our conversations with certain words over and over and over and over and over again.
But that doesn't mean these need to spill over to 2017 as well.
Clean them out!
We don't want to HEAR them anymore!
10 words and phrases we hope to hear less frequently in the new year:
1. Whatever
Do you realise it has been declared the most annoying word of 2016 by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion (look up who they are if you are so ill informed:))))?
Need more reasons to stop using it?
2. Demonetisation
Clearly, the most dreaded and overused word of the year.
We'll be very glad not to hear the word again in 2017!
3. Selfie
Back in 2013, 'selfie' was the word of the year! So why are we still using it?
4. Bae
This word comes from babe.
A term of endearment for a partner. But it also means 'poop' in Danish.
Time to dump this awfully fake word in the garbage can.
5. Break the Internet
Kim Kardashian supposedly 'broke the Internet' with her gloriously nanga butt and we're glad it is on its way out, preferably along with the popularity of the overexposed, yawn-yawn Kardashians and their lips, buns, boobs, Christmas trees etc!
'Break the Internet', by the way, refers to 'something that has caused a large commotion on the Internet with social media sites discussing it.'
6. Baby bump and yummy mummy
2016 was the year of 'yummy mummies' and 'baby bumps'.
When Kareena Kapoor was pregnant, almost everyone pronounced her as the 'yummiest mummy' ever.
Folks on Twitter just could not stop talking of her 'baby bump'!
We suspect these are some of the most overused hashtags on Instagram and Twitter. We can't take any more 'baby bumps', seriously.
7. Manspreading
The practice whereby men, especially those travelling by public transport, sit with their legs wide apart, in a manner that encroaches on an adjacent seat or three.
The word spread like wild fire and Twitter was abuzz with posts and pictures of 'manspreading' on buses and trains.
Surely, we can find different ways this coming year of describing a person occupying too much space.
8. Foodie
'Foodie' has overstayed its welcome.
It has been misused so much so that people don't know what the word means anymore.
Is it someone who loves food?
Or someone who loves to eat?
Or a person who knows what he is eating?
We are clueless! What about you?
9. Swag
This word finds its roots in 'swagger'.
People just refuse to stop using this word, making it one of the most irritatingly common words of 2016.
We're swagged out folks. Can it be binned?
10. Slayed
Beyonce popularised 'slayed' -- it is used every time someone does something unusual.
Unfortunately, we have been killing it too often.
Image: Satish Bodas/Rediff.com
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