The Best Buzzwords of 2008 (and Why You Shouldn’t Use Them)

The end of any year brings with it an avalanche of “Best of…” roundup stories, and fortunately for those who want the year gift-wrapped in a small, bite-sized package, this year is no exception.

The New York Times “Week in Review” fired up The Buzzwords of 2008, and as professional word geeks, I thought some were worth a mention:

Picking out political buzzwords from 2008 is like shooting moose in a pigpen. The fundamentals were so dizzyingly strong, it could be tough to keep them all straight. Before you knew it “The One” had become “That One” and the “team of mavericks” were going rogue on each other. You mixed up Client 9 and Candidate 5 at the holiday party and tried to change the subject.

via The Buzzwords of 2008 – NYTimes.com.

A few favorites include Frugalista (stylish, but cheap, similar to Recessionista), Staycation (vacationing at home), Edupunk (rejecting traditional educational methods), and Nuke the Fridge (ruin a successful movie franchise through arrogance [in the latest Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford survived a nuclear blast by ducking into a fridge - not the best moment in the series]).

Of course, it was an election year, and the sound bites dominated the increasingly ADD media landscape, so no buzzword article would be complete without mentioning the old-but-new-again buzzphrases like Lipstick on a Pig, Change, Caribou Barbie, Maverick and Obamamania.

When marketing cycled through the media more slowly, copywriters didn’t use buzzphrases because they’d be old news by the time print ads hit the market.

Today – with online media fueling near-instantaneous marketing cycles – buzzphrases could be useful, though many are “loaded” with meaning that may or may not help your cause – and could alienate readers.

My advice? Enjoy the article, but use buzzphrases with care.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

Comments 4

Graham Strong wrote:

Hi Tom,

You forgot “spatchcocked” — one of the words on Webster’s Most Endangered List.

But I guess technically speaking, it isn’t a buzzword since even I had to go back to your past post about championing words to look it up…

(Perhaps a buzzword for 2009? I’ve got to get back to using it!)

~Graham

Posted 30 Dec 2008 at 7:20 am (Quote) ¶
Tom Chandler wrote:

I knew I’d embrangle you in this one, you agrestic maverick.

Posted 30 Dec 2008 at 9:40 am (Quote) ¶
Sher Matsen wrote:

What a great post – hits it right on target. We should all forget these buzz words!

Posted 31 Jan 2009 at 5:32 pm (Quote) ¶
Sharon wrote:

I keep hearing variations of the “this is Sparta!” line from the 300. Usually they change the Sparta bit to something else, often saying it if someone asks something stupid. Its by far my favorite buzzword!

Posted 13 Feb 2009 at 1:10 am (Quote) ¶

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