‘Moving forward’ tops list of 2010’s most annoying phrases
December 23rd, 2010 - 6:22 pm ICT by ANI
Melbourne, Dec 23 (ANI): The term “Moving forward” has made the top of The Plain English Foundation’s inaugural list of annoying words and phrases for 2010.
Labor’s catch-cry from the federal election has been voted the most annoying phrase, and it beat hundreds of pieces of jargon, spin and obfuscation on the list like, “thought shower”, “maggoted” and “disintermediate”.
Executive director Neil James said the phrase was a narrow winner in a strong field but had to win because it showed the election had been driven “more by focus-group research than political leadership”.
“Just when we thought this business cliche had dropped from use, Julia Gillard robotically repeated the phrase more than 20 times during her announcement of the election,” News.com.au quoted James as saying.
The Plain English Foundation was founded in 2003 to lobby for better use of public language and to provide consulting services to businesses and government.
The list includes US politician Sarah Palin’s non-word “refudiate”, which was also named 2010 Word of the year by the Oxford American Dictionary.
Palin first used the “word” during a television appearance where she demanded US President Barack Obama “refudiate” claims the Tea Party movement was racist.
James said he was bemused by claims made by the dictionary’s editors that it was “an unquestionable buzzword in 2010″ and that it “more or less (stood) on its own”.
“I think the good people at Oxford can be a little too permissive sometimes. It’s not a word and we wouldn’t want it to become a word,” he added.
Other worst words and phrases of 2010 are:
Great big new taxBoring, repetitive and redundant, Tony Abbott’s slogan was the tautology of 2010.
Strategic staircaseThe new business cliche that looks set to replace “forward plan”; it means a plan.
Removal pathwayA phrase first coined by Senator Christopher Evans is essentially a euphemism for deportation.
Investment in human capitalOpposition spokesperson for the status of women Sharman Stone created this when talking about Liberal’s paid parental leave scheme.
Thought showerWant to brainstorm some ideas? Employers in the UK now ask staff to take “thought showers” instead because “brainstorm” might be offensive to people with epilepsy.
Ambient sausage rollsDeserves a mention for weirdness. Simply means the sausage rolls in question can be consumed at room temperature. (ANI)
- Sarah Palin's Coined Word 'Refudiate' Recognized As Word Of The Year - Nov 16, 2010
- 'Refudiate' just a typo, Palin now says - Dec 29, 2010
- Palin's 'refudiate' named word of the year - Nov 16, 2010
- Merriam Webster Enlists "Refudiate" As Sarah Palin's Word Of The Summer - Sep 08, 2010
- Palin makes another grammatical error by misusing the word 'cackle' in a tweet - Aug 20, 2010
- Merriam-Webster Announces Sarah Palin Word Of Summer - Sep 08, 2010
- 'Vuvuzela', 'spillcam' make their way to 'Top Words of 2010' - Nov 15, 2010
- Palin likens herself to Shakespeare with newly coined word 'refudiate' - Jul 19, 2010
- "Wellderly" among 250 jargon words that bamboozle the UK public - Mar 11, 2010
- Merriam-Webster's Word of the Summer is Sarah Palin's 'refudiate' - Sep 08, 2010
- Internet words 'bloggable' and 'scareware' enter Oxford Dictionary - Feb 24, 2011
- Graphic symbol for love is first to be added to Oxford English Dictionary - Mar 25, 2011
- Chinese slangs find way into Oxford dictionary - Sep 22, 2010
- Shakespalin: Sarah Palin Creates New Word, Tweeters Create New Hashtag - Jul 21, 2010
- Now, Palin claims her record-setting 'refudiate' gaffe was only a typo - Dec 28, 2010
Tags: barack obama, buzzword, christopher evans, director neil, election news, english foundation, focus group research, forward plan, julia gillard, obfuscation, oxford american dictionary, plain english, political leadership, public language, sarah palin, senator christopher, tautology, tea party, television appearance, tony abbott