Sir, – Let me applaud Frank McNally’s Irishman’s Diary (“Adjectives that should be banned”) and perhaps offer some expansion. Surely McNally, possibly in search of the sophisticated and the esoteric, has overlooked some of the greater enemies of meaning in (all too) common usage?
Incredible: might once have meant that which defied human credulity or even gullibility but now seems to describe just about anything and is particularly abused by a certain kind of vacuous broadcaster.
Amazing: one might be forgiven for thinking that to amaze is to stupefy with bewilderment. Again in modern usage particularly in a certain kind of broadcast it has become an all-purpose introduction to whatever, the frequently pedestrian whatever, that happens to be coming up next.
Epic: adequately describes a remarkable journey fraught with danger and improbable perils. Used to describe a night of excessive drinking its meaning becomes severely undermined.
Meaningful: I advance this with some temerity as the bold McNally uses it himself. “The parties had meaningful talks” is a frequent component of meaningless press releases. “Meaningful” one can only assume as opposed to “meaningless and pointless” talks?
This could be the beginning of a terrible list. – Yours, etc,
PETER J FLOOD,
Lippestrasse,
Düsseldorf ,
Germany.