DYSTOPIAN

If I hear the word DYSTOPIAN used once more during this election cycle, I am going to scream.

Definition of dystopia:

"an imagined place or state where everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one."  It is the opposite of Utopia.  

I told my brother, "I guess that dystopian is the word du jour."  He immediately began to imitate Don La Fontaine reciting his famous lines:  "In a world......"

"Fashionable" words come and go after overuse.

In the 1960s, "charismatic" was a fashionable word used to describe JFK; until then I had never known the word. In subsequent years, I have heard numerous words become trendy and then fade away; e.g.: "paradigm", "wonk" and "dudgeon".  However, this year, I have been hearing "wonk" used to describe one of the candidates who is known to be detail-oriented.

One time my nephew told me that he knew when a modish word had become passe was when he would see it on a bumper sticker. When I saw the bumper sticker SUBVERT THE DOMINANT PARADIGM, I laughed, recalling my nephew's rule, and, of course, I  had to order a bumper sticker for him.

I have several friends who report to me each time they hear the word "schadenfreude" used (CLICK HERE to see BLOG article SCHADENFREUDE BUG). The "bug" happens whenever we hear a new--or unused--word used and then we cannot believe the number of times we hear it used afterward; we have a compulsion to keep track of and report about the usage.

But, DYSTOPIAN, your time has come and gone because it's now on a bumper sticker.  I was very happy to see George Orwell's picture in the center of this one!