For longer than I can remember, little things have bothered me more than any normal person would allow anything to bother them. These little things were catch phrases, fashion blunders, and idiosyncrasies; nothing big. As time went on, more things were added to my list of annoyances. Now, things are just out of hand. It's hard to function as a member of society in a polite and accommodating manner when all these nuances of day-to-day popular culture keep creeping into my brain and irritating the most primitive parts of my grey matter causing my vision to turn red and making by blood pressure to be in the neighborhood of 200/140.
So, I've decided to let go of all these things by the end of 2010.* Before I let them die with 2010, I've decided to make a list of them and explain why each one bothers me.
And so the list begins.
"Epic"
Now that our world is becoming a jumbled mess of communication by means of a broadband Internet connection, often in an anonymous or semi-anonymous setting, we have become overly exaggerative. I remember a time when everyday phenomena were measured incrementally. F'rinstance: neat, cool, awesome, unbelievable / lame, horrible, sucky, awful. Now-a-days it seems that everything is "Epic Win/Fail". Well, it isn't you overdramatic, anonymous nerds. "Epic" should only be used in the most extraordinary of events, both good and bad. I wouldn't consider an iPhone app having a few operational glitches an Epic Fail in the same way as taking home a pre/post-op transgender and having some romantic exchanges. And to make that senario even more "Epic", no alcohol would be involved. That's "Epic", friends.2010 response: "How is that 'Epic'? Was it really so amazing? You've never seen anything this unbelievable?"
2011 response: "Epic? Okay."or completely ignored.
*By "let go" I mean that I won't cope with each loathsome quirk in the same way that I always have.
Update:
As it turns out, I'm not the only one to be bothered by the common usage of this word. Lake Superior State University has published a list of Banished Words for 2011. I'm glad there are others out there that are making an effort to make conversation more tolerable and intelligent in our future. Thanks, LSSU.