Throw it under the bus

My gag reflex has a very low threshold. It doesn’t take a very large pile of dog or cat poop on the carpet to get it going. A small container of mysterious blue-green fuzzies in the refrigerator is as unpalatable as a large container. Lately, even words can trigger the gag response.

I don’t mean descriptive words that create gory, vomit-worthy mental images. I mean ordinary words used incessantly until they have the same effect as the poop pile on the floor. The current offender is the phrase “thrown under the bus.” It has been so over-used by the news media that it makes me want to throw up when I hear it.

The phrase has been around a long time, but it leapt to new prominence during last year’s political season and shows no signs of disappearing. Every news anchor, reporter and talking head jumped onto the phrase and rode it into the ground. Obama threw his grandmother under the bus, McCain threw Sarah under the bus after the election, Congress threw its constituents under the bus. It was in print, on the radio, all over television. It’s very crowded under that bus. Stop it.

Another phrase my ears react to like fingernails on a chalkboard (for some of you, the chalkboard predated the whiteboard and erasable markers; farther back it was a blackboard, even though some of them were green) is “I know, huh?” It’s used senselessly as a response to almost anything, as in, “Café Rio burritos are ridiculously large.” “I know, huh?” It means nothing more than an acknowledgement that I’ve said something.

I suppose it’s today’s equivalent of something like “right on” of Sixties fame, as in, “Café Rio burritos are ridiculously large.” “Right on.” That was silly back then; “I know, huh?” is silly now. Stop it.

“Like” is another one to which I have a visceral reaction. It’s been contributing to the deterioration of the language since the first Valley Girl sprouted up in California. I have two children whom I won’t identify for, like, obvious reasons, but who cannot speak even a short sentence without, like, a generous helping of “like” added to otherwise intelligent conversation. It’s an unnecessary and annoying word that makes smart people sound goofy, much as a heavy southern drawl can make a nuclear physicist seem dumb as a rope. Stop it.

I understand that certain words and terms become faddish buzzwords for a time and then disappear. Every professional or cultural group has a certain amount of jargon. No prob. I’m down with that, but why must we put up with just plain silliness in language. Idk. But it’s definitely time to, like, throw some of these under the bus. I know, huh?