I hereby organize the first SSO World Congress.

[bryce]

I hereby organize the SSO World Congress of Good Taste (puns notwithstanding) in an Emergency Meeting seeking resolution on (and refutation of; to be added to the list of previously banned words, including such gems as "subversive," "transgressive," the inhuman combination of the two and, lastly, the phrase "so bad it's good") the use of words of culinary linguistics when applied to film, music, writing and all other forms of art and entertainment which are not, in any way, related to food of any sort, including, but not limited to, fine food, fast food, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, desserts, pastries, vegetables, fruits, meat, meat alternatives, tv dinners, snacks, chocolate bars, fudge, bread, cereal and etcetera. (Phew, that's one hell of a sentence.)

First up, I would like to table a motion (in the British sense, you sneaky US lawyers you) that forever more bans the use of "delicious" and strips any and all credibility whatsoever any offenders, regardless of whether they possess a clean background or they are repeat violators, may or may not (emphasis on may not) possess. These crimes against the Queen's English will no longer be tolerated.

What say you, friends of mine, purveyors of class and taste, drinkers of the only fine Oasis water on the arid pop culture desert planet Arrakis, do we stand and fight these... these... these cultureless philistines bastardizing all that is good and decent in the world, these talentless hacksmiths tearing Andre Bazin's good work apart paragraph by paragraph, word by word, ensuring that his grave will never be stilled as it is riled day in and day out, year after year, by the childish self-referential troglodytes-posing-as-intellectuals-posing-as-everymen that demean and debase the very notion that film is representative of our culture, our societies, our very souls... What say you, comrades in arms? Is this not a war worth waging, worth sending our men off to foreign soils (see: New York, to punch AO Scott and Peter Travers in the face, then to leave a signed cast picture from Clerks 2 on Joel Siegel's grave) where they will surely die, most likely from having contracted The Stupid (tm) from the countless unwashed masses, easily mistaken for a zombie horde?

I say... Yes, It Is Worth It!

All rise, can I get an Aye from all you believers in the world Frank Zappa knew we could create! All right then. Can I get a Nay from all you Mary Whitehouses, most likely who listen to Country and Western, most definitely who enjoy American Idol...

What say YOU, friends of the revolution?

[klondike]

What's wrong with Country and Western?

[bryce]

Nothing, so long as it's this:

[youtube][/youtube]

this:

[youtube][/youtube]

or this:

[youtube][/youtube]

Instead of this:

[youtube][/youtube]

this:

[youtube][/youtube]

or this:

[youtube][/youtube]

[movieman1957]

Isn't the "western" part of the term no longer needed? I have never been a fan of country music in either fashion but of what I do know is it seems it is basically "pop" music with some extra instruments thrown done by singers I find generally difficult to tell apart. (This has no relation to the quality of the songs.)

[knitwit45]

You guys are nit-picking....and I can't even figure out what the Mission Statement was all about. ok, Bryce, small words for feeble brains, please.....

[jdb1]

I don't mind Western, or "cowboy" music (which is what music like Hank's was called Way Back When), but I'm not a big fan of the slick, big-haired, bespangled and/or big-hatted egomaniacs who give themselves Country Music awards these days.

Nevertheless, I'm all for Bryce's call to linguistic arms, and I'd like to nominate the following buzzwords

1. Counterintuitive -- a perfectly good concept that is now so misused and overused (by politicians particularly).

2. Awesome -- I can't hear this word any more without cringing.

3. Real quick -- a meaningless addition to just about every sentence uttered by anyone around here under 30.

In addition, I'd like to point out that the culinary thing works in reverse: if I have to read one more gushing, semi-grammatical restaurant review that refers to the ingredients or presentation of a dish as "witty" or "soulful," I'm going to puke. And -- since when is the placing of food on a plate "plating?" I thought plating was what you did to cheap jewelry to make it look fancier.

[movieman1957]

"Going forward" is my fingers on the chalkboard. Throw in "24/7" for good measure.

[knitwit45]

See??? I knew I could understand this if it was just "splained" a bit ....TOTALLY AWESOME, DUDE!!!!!!

[jdb1]

"Going forward" is my fingers on the chalkboard. Throw in "24/7" for good measure.

You are so right, Chris, although "24/7" doesn't bother me as much as the other one. At least it makes sense, even if it's a little cutesy. And let's add:

-- I'm going to go ahead and . . . . . -- the TV chefs are using this one to death.

--Continue on/Separate out/File away -- they haven't yet invented invectives strong enough to indicate my loathing of these redundancies.

--Rain event -- TV weather presenters are no longer content to say "It's raining." Now it has to be a "rain event" (and sometimes a "weather event").

[Synnove]

Hank! Thanks for that one.

I am still learn teh English - but I nominate "Oh my God." Would that be okay? Not too blasphemous?

[charliechaplinfan]

I can't abide not on the end on sentences, used generally to show that the person has style, when they plainly haven't.

Did someone say 'awesome' it's even worse when prefaced by totally.

and I hate it when people pick up catchphrases from the TV and use them all the time, yawn.

[jdb1]

Another one I've noticed people on TV and in real life using far too much is actually. It's as though they are afraid we won't believe them.

[charliechaplinfan]

I hate word whatever in reply to questions.

[knitwit45]

Synnove, I agree. No matter what happens, the person reacts with an "OMG". I've even heard children saying it.

[jdb1]

I can't abide not on the end on sentences, used generally to show that the person has style, when they plainly haven't.

You know, Alison, I don't hear "not" much any more in NYC. It was all over the place in the days of Wayne's World, but seems to have gone out of favor here. What I am hearing a lot of are words that dropped out of usage for a few years in New York and are now back, to wit, mad and wicked to denote emphasis -- "She has a wicked mad closet" -- which means she's well dressed.