You’ve undoubtedly seen and heard the phrases in commercials since the pandemic began.“We live in unprecedented times.” “In these challenging, difficult times.” “We’re in this together.”
According to one university, that’s gone on for long enough.In its annual review, Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, released the 2021 edition of the Top 10 words and phrases that are overused to the point of becoming insincere, useless or cliché. For 2020, it’s all about Covid-19
More than 1,450 phrases were nominated from around the world for consideration. Among the chosen were “Covid-19,” “social distancing,” “we’re all in this together,” “pivot,” “unprecedented,” and any variation of “in an abundance of caution” and “in these uncertain times.”
People named Karen may be glad to hear that the term “Karen” made the list. As the university states, “What began as an anti-racist critique of the behavior of white women in response to Black and Brown people has become a misogynist umbrella term for critiquing the perceived overemotional behavior of women.” (For more on the list, some left off and some from other years….)
Source: CNN Michigan Live Lake Superior State U