Not so easy after all 

Far too often today, bad “reporters” — and good ones — sling words around so carelessly that the words mean practically nothing. All they’re slinging is attitude. Perhaps the best, or worst, example of this is the word “populist.”

Though the Populist Party (1891-1908, R.I.P.) never managed to elect anyone to a major office, it improved the lives of millions of Americans: mostly farmers and rural folks, then all of us. Populists helped to create water districts, to slash protective tariffs, regulate railroads and banks, and promoted the direct election of U.S. senators.

Populists claimed to, and did, represent the interest of what they, and we, call “common people” against the interests of the superwealthy and corporations.

By any measure, Populists were a left-wing party.

You wouldn’t know that today, when newspapers, including The New York Times and Washington Post, describe the most right-wing, neo-fascist politicians, in our country and others, as populists. The word today has lost its meaning. It has been turned into its opposite.

And once a word has become meaningless, there’s no sense in slinging it around anymore.

Many other “popular” words today, while not quite meaningless, have become instant clichés: brainless excuses for thought. Here are some of them, with corrections.

Please excuse me for inflicting this upon you:

**conservative: ** Sorry, pals. Where have you been since Dec. 2, 1954? Trump, McCarthy (versions I and II), McConnell, Greene, Boebert, Gosar, Faux News, et al., are not conservative. They are fascist.

Fascist (upper case):  Many moons ago, Fascist political parties in Europe thought they were always right, and anyone who disagreed with them was wrong, and deserved to be killed. See too: Ku Klux Klan.

fascist (lower case):  Fascists, hiding under another party name. Fascism, Ernest Hemingway said, is “a lie told by a bully.” Still true today.

socialism:  Cut it out. Admit that you don’t know what you’re talking about. My favorite quote about socialism came from the lamented, good-hearted Hubert Humphrey, who said, while running for president, that he hated socialism, but would defend your Social Security.

unpack:  a favorite word of college professors, as in: “Let’s unpack this.” OK, I get it. But please, no more. Most clichés take years to worm themselves into and undermine our language. This one was a cliché the moment it was born.

agency : as in: “He deprived me of my agency.” No question that people, especially men, do this, especially to women. But come on — pardon my homely speech — is that all the better you can write? Or whut?

cancel culture:  Shut up. Sell it to the Marines.

the American people:  Dear our overpaid Politicians (might as well capitalize politician — after all, we capitalize King): I know, I know, you feel like you have to say this, over and over, but let me assure you: You don’t know what you’re talking about. Above all in ‘Latin America.’

weaponized:  Shut up. Anything can be a weapon. Don’t use a cool word to excuse you from thinking. Would anyone write: “He weaponized a rock”?

**sending our prayers:  as in “we’re sending our prayers  to the families of the children whose heads were blown apart by an AR-15.” But don’t mention the AR-15. And by the way, what exactly are you praying for?

incel:  this is a word of choice for adolescent boys who can’t get laid, so they kill people with guns, before the big fat babies learn how to talk to girls, and learn that girls can say no. Id est: little twits.

referenced:  “reference” is a noun, not a verb; the verb is “referred to.” Next time I see this word used as a verb, I will refer my prayers to an editor.

impact:  like reference, this is a noun, not a verb. Unless someone bonks me on the head with a rock, I have not been “impacted,” I have been affected.

forward-looking:  Getoutahere.

pre-planning:  O, please.

‘let’s try to do some impactful, forward-looking pre-planning on this so we can unpack it for the American people’:  Just kill me now.

Goat : This used to mean the fall guy, for reasons unknown to me, as goats have an excellent sense of balance. Today, apparently, it means the Greatest Of All Time. O, really? Can’t we think of anything better than goat for that? Like: the Cashmere Sweater of All Time (CSWAT)?

Can’t we think anymore, at all?

Apparently not — as we abuse the dignity of words — and let them lie, dead, dried-up slugs on the page.