Words That Come and Go

I've noticed that some words are like clothing fads, they come in style and in five years they are all but forgotten. Remember during the eighties when everyone was fascinated by the new phenomena of satelites and electronic communication. Suddenly everyone was "down loading" and "up linking " or "off loading." It seemed rather ostentatious. One employer had his fill and posted this notice: "I will be down coming on the next person I hear saying down load and they will soon be out going." History doesn't record the result of that threat but those terms, in most circles, are only a memory.



More recently we were hearing a constant barrage of "robust." As I remember it was one of Don Rumsfeld's favorite terms. He had robust troop build-ups and robust offensives going all the time. Another phrase becoming threadbare and needing to be replaced is "at the end of the day." Apparently it is one of the rules of the United States Senate that no speech will be be on the floor or interview made on television that does not include "at the end of the day." What's wrong with "finally"? I sincerely hope that we are close to the end of the road with "at the end of the day."



"The bottom line" is a related phrase that made it big with the politicians and was sometimes picked up by the locals as indicating being knowledgable. Actually, it meant that you couldn't think of the phrase "in summary."



Finally, there is "going forward." This one is heard primarily among politicians. It seems to mean "in the future" but then I suppose "going forward" indicates that you know all about the future and are fearlessly progressing toward the solving of all problems.



These words too, will no doubt have their day and then receed into the bin of former catchy fads that have lost their appeal. May they rest in peace along with "spiffy" and "cool." Oops. You mean "cool" is alive and well? I guess the bottom line is that some words take longer to die than others.