THE HALL OF OVERUSED (AND OUGHT TO BE RETIRED) WORDS

2/17/10

Out of the stories of Toyota’s problems with accelerators, brakes, steering, etc. come two words that have joined such tripe as “actually,” “awesome,” “whatever,” and countless others in the Hall of Overused (and Ought to Be Retired) Words, which should become a regular feature of the Pontificator.

The first is “crisis.” Toyota’s problems are described as a “crisis” or a series of “crises.” This word is not new to overusedom, but this is the first time I have taken the opportunity to opine in the Pontificator on its overuse. It seems that, in today’s society, anything that causes any degree of pain or discomfort, even transitory pain or discomfort, is a “crisis.” In my nearly 53 years on the planet, the world has experienced perhaps two genuine crises. One was the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which the world was nearly incinerated due to miscalculations and a need to prove one’s mettle, or testicularity, on both sides of the issue. One, maybe, was the 1973 Oil Crisis, born of the OAPEC oil embargo. Cut off from a major source of oil, the West’s energy hog (at the time) economy, or economies, nearly collapsed. But that’s about it as far as genuine crises go. That relatively minor inconveniences are now labeled “crises” says more about the increasingly pusillanimous nature of our society than it does about the language.

The second overused word highlighted by Toyota’s difficulties is “transparency.” This may or may not be a case of misuse; I am not sure if greater “transparency” is needed, though I tend to doubt that it is. Not everyone needs to know what everybody else is doing. Businesses don’t have to tell their customers, their potential customers, and Congress everything; indeed, to do so would be a disaster. Even governments don’t have to tell everyone everything they are doing, and politicians should not feel compelled to reveal every detail of their private lives to constituents, present and potential. But perhaps Toyota could benefit from a little more transparency; I truly don’t know. But “transparency,” whether rightly or wrongly used, is surely overused.