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13 Words Overused Until They Mean Nothing (decimated, Eviscerated)
Brook Adams ^ | May 8, 2020 | Brook Adams

Posted on 10/14/2026 5:07:27 PM PDT by DoodleBob

I love this. I hate that. Really? Is it necessary to exaggerate? If everything is huge or outrageous or unprecedented, then how will we express things that are truly out of the ordinary? Florid language is the enemy of clear, concise speech. Like putting exclamation points and emojis after every sentence, it pervades modern media and makes everyone sound like adolescent twits. I don't dislike the following expressions, nor do I hate them. I detest them with a burning rage that disrupts the very fabric of space and time.

- Amazing/Amazed: People say this when they really like something, but it seems to imply low expectations. Did you expect your $30 hamburger to suck? Did you expect the roller-coaster to be boring? Who do you think you are, James Bond? And finally, 'Amaze-Balls'? What does that even mean?

- Decimated: Used in journalism and elsewhere to mean drastically reduced. The literal meaning is to be reduced by 10%. Well that all depends don't it? If Jeff Bezos' finances were 'decimated', he would go from $140 billion to just $126 billion... Wow, decimated! How about this; "At the barber shop, my hair was decimated".

- Devastated: To be destroyed. I was devastated when Netflicks stopped streaming Buffy Vampire Slayer. Now you can only rent it on disk.

- Eviscerated/Gutted: Gutted, like a fish. Currently used to say that something has been rendered ineffective somehow. I think a term this disgusting and extreme should refer to extreme cases. For ordinary things it seems quite stupid; "my dinner plans were EVISCERATED", "The yard-debris pickup schedule was GUTTED". Oooooh!

(Excerpt) Read more at brookadams.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Society
KEYWORDS: affordability; climatechange; globalist; hyperbole; lowiqhyperbole; neocon
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To: wally_bert

21 posted on 10/14/2026 5:24:31 PM PDT by DoodleBob (Gravity's waiting period is about 9.8 m/s²)
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To: DoodleBob

Debunked. Frequently used by the democrat media to dismiss the truth.


22 posted on 10/14/2026 5:25:53 PM PDT by willk (Local news media. Just as big an enemy to this country as national media)
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

Get a book by Victor Davis Hansen who explains how the banks scrwed with the trump family, and their finances, and where did the bank account numbers appear in Melania’s underwear drawer when they INVADED MIRA LARGO parts of the FBI hates DJT..


23 posted on 10/14/2026 5:27:34 PM PDT by electricjack (Hello I am from the govt an an I am here to help you )
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

Get a book by Victor Davis Hansen who explains how the banks scrwed with the trump family, and their finances, and where did the bank account numbers appear in Melania’s underwear drawer when they INVADED MIRA LARGO parts of the FBI hates DJT..


24 posted on 10/14/2026 5:27:38 PM PDT by electricjack (Hello I am from the govt an an I am here to help you )
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To: ConjunctionJunction

Just posted right after this thread:

Major banks closed accounts of MAGA, pro-life and other conservative groups disfavored by Biden admin: bombshell report
ny post ^ | 10/14/2026 | Miranda Devine
Posted on 10/14/2026, 8:25:07 PM by BenLurkin


25 posted on 10/14/2026 5:27:51 PM PDT by DoodleBob (Gravity's waiting period is about 9.8 m/s²)
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To: DoodleBob

100 percent correct.


26 posted on 10/14/2026 5:28:06 PM PDT by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure..)
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To: DoodleBob

game-changer


27 posted on 10/14/2026 5:30:00 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: DoodleBob

The author is no fan of idioms, obviously, yet they are quite common; not just in English.

I agree with several of those (”Literally” is not on there, surprisingly, nor is, “Like”), but the pharases towards the end are just bitterness.


28 posted on 10/14/2026 5:31:46 PM PDT by Tacrolimus1mg (Do no harm, but take no sh!t.)
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To: DoodleBob

The meant of words changes over time… “”cell”, for example. The same has happened with decimation, which now describes any reduction in sample rate in DSP.

It’s existential change.


29 posted on 10/14/2026 5:32:35 PM PDT by bigbob (We are all Charlie Kirk now)
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To: DoodleBob

RACIST


30 posted on 10/14/2026 5:33:51 PM PDT by Magic Fingers (Political correctness mutates in order to remain virulent.)
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To: DoodleBob

“genocide”


31 posted on 10/14/2026 5:34:09 PM PDT by Paul R. (Who else but Dolly Parton could go so far by being so genuine about being so fake?)
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To: DoodleBob

I’ll add another word to the list: “legendary.” Any star athlete or major entertainer from the past is described as “legendary”. “Legendary” should be reserved for actual legends, e.g., Robin Hood, Rip Van Winkle, or Johnny Appleseed, who are either fictional, whose life is shrouded in mystery and embellishment, or who accomplished things that are almost beyond belief. In modern America, Babe Ruth and Elvis might deserve the term “legendary,” but not many others.


32 posted on 10/14/2026 5:35:45 PM PDT by Steve_Seattle1
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To: DoodleBob

Existential. I am so tired of hearing something is an existential threat; as if it will eliminate us from existence.


33 posted on 10/14/2026 5:36:41 PM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: PGR88

We are playing cricket now... ;-)


34 posted on 10/14/2026 5:37:54 PM PDT by Paul R. (Who else but Dolly Parton could go so far by being so genuine about being so fake?)
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To: DoodleBob

Racist
Pedophile
Islamophobic


35 posted on 10/14/2026 5:39:13 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("We come in peace. Don't look too carefully at our menus.")
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To: DoodleBob
Our youngest decided to be "edgy" and let rip with a "Damn it"! in front of her grandmother.

Who raised her eyebrow slightly and said "really honey? You are asking the Almighty to condemn that bit of cabbage to eternal torment because it did not go in the bowl?"

I had to leave to go laugh historically.

The edgy phase seems to be over.

36 posted on 10/14/2026 5:39:32 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (I just want FReepers to READ THE ARTICLE. And then think 30 secs before pounding keyboard.)
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To: DoodleBob

I find it nice that words I use do not appear. I avoid adjectives and adverbs. I use a 1935 thesaurus to find a better word, rather than use a modifier.


37 posted on 10/14/2026 5:41:34 PM PDT by Retain Mike ( Sat Cong)
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To: DoodleBob

I find it nice that words I use do not appear. I avoid adjectives and adverbs. I use a 1935 thesaurus to find a better word, rather than use a modifier.


38 posted on 10/14/2026 5:41:37 PM PDT by Retain Mike ( Sat Cong)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

Fascist


39 posted on 10/14/2026 5:42:09 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: DoodleBob

“Dreadful, tinny sort of words.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3-51DhOzHE


40 posted on 10/14/2026 5:43:31 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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