Some bloke on the Interweb writes:
“Here’s my check list of degraded words and terms that should be loaded into the tumbrils and carted off to the guillotine.
First up: sustainable. It’s been at least a decade since this earnest word was drained of all energy, having become the prime unit of exchange in the argot of purposeful uplift. As the final indication of its degraded status, I found it in President Obama’s “signing statement” which accompanied the whisper of his pen when on New Year’s Eve – a very quiet day when news editors were all asleep – he signed into law the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for 2012 which handed $662bn to the Pentagon and for good measure ratified by legal statute the exposure of US citizens to arbitrary arrest without subsequent benefit of counsel, and to possible torture and imprisonment sine die, abolishing habeas corpus.
As he set his name to this repugnant legislation, the president issued a “signing statement” in which I came upon the following passage: “Over the last several years, my Administration has developed an effective, sustainable framework for the detention, interrogation and trial of suspected terrorists…”
So much for sustainable. Into the tumbrils with it.“
and I thought you used integrity with integrity.
In an age of 140 character wisdom, multi-channel 24 hour roling news, multi-platform multifunctional device availability and six monthly upgrade imperatives, it is probable that very few of our english words will retain any integrity (there goes one of them) for any length of time. I am no expert on anything, let alone American legislative matters, but it does seem to me that this (referring to the particular abuse of the term ‘sustainable’, is possibly the most gross and morally expensive example I have come across in a long time.
As for my own choice, the tumbrilasation of ‘political correctness’ would do me a lot of favours, and would have saved me a lot of energy in recent months trying to persuade people who should know better to think before they put finger to keyboard.
Ah, interesting. A gay friend of mine has nothing but praise for the effects of PoCo or PolCor or PC(not the computer). He claims it has liberated him from homophobia. To which I say – maybe amongst the posher end of society, dear boy. The intersection of PoCo and class – discuss: use both sides of the debate,