“Whatever” was ranked the most annoying word of 2016, for the eighth year in a row. Other contenders in sequential order are “No offense, but,” “Ya know, right?,” “I can’t even” and “Huge.” The last one undoubtedly has some causation from our president’s use of the word. However, at the top of my list is “unprecedented.”
The unprecedented overuse of the word “unprecedented” is something that all political commentators have probably found to be unprecedented. Whenever I read or hear that word through the media I cringe at the lack of imagination. Are there really no other adjectives? How about instead of using the word unprecedented to describe the (slight) deterioration of U.S.-Australia relations, journalists can just call it idiotic. As biased as that might be, I hate unprecedented that much. Our relationship with Australia is vital — what would we do without the Hemsworth brothers? Not to mention we need Australia’s role in the Pacific to combat Chinese aggression. But, of course, the matter of who would play Thor is much more important.
The Federal Communications Commission, which “regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable” in the United States, has three categories of prohibited material: obscene, indecent and profane content. Don’t tell me “unprecedented” isn’t profane. I find it much more of a public nuisance than a few words I can’t type here (but you get the message).
CNN even published a book titled “Unprecedented: The Election That Changed Everything.” There is no doubt in my mind that I will never purchase that book.
Unprecedented is my “moist” (another weirdly irritating word) for logical reasons. When a news broadcast claims a Trump action or claim as “unprecedented,” they are just playing into Trump’s theme of “shaking up Washington.” There are countless other adjectives to be used in place of this word.
Susan Page of USA TODAY has said “we overuse the word unprecedented when it comes to Donald Trump, but there are many ways in which this period of time has been unprecedented.”
However, this has the unintended consequence of painting Trump himself as “unprecedented.” When the majority of Americans believe this country is going in the wrong direction, anything that symbolizes change is automatically a positive. Trump uses hate toward anything political, conniving or manipulative into a passion for blunt, unprecedented ideas.
Unprecedented has become synonymous to change — and as many will point out — this was a “change election.” The problem is, it really wasn’t. Even though Trump has said some unprecedented things, most of his actions aren’t. Excluding the immigration ban, Trump is functioning as a traditional Republican puppet. Under Trump, Dodd-Frank regulations — which were established to prevent another Great Recession — are being pulled back. Thank god people on Wall Street are finally receiving a break from the government. Those are the ones who are definitely struggling the most right now. Trump is also allowing congressional Republicans to repeal a rule that stops coal mining debris from being dumped into streams. I mean, who even cares about streams anyway. I’m sure there won’t be any harsh environmental impact from that.
While Trump is theatrically performing how unprecedented he is, behind the scenes Republicans are working to repeal financial regulations, environmental regulations and social welfare programs. Trump might be acting all big and tough with his “America First” message. But let’s be real, when Trump utters “America First,” it really means Big Banks, Big Pharma and Big Corruption first and foremost. How do you destroy a populist? By pointing out that populists stand only for power and greed.
No offense, but the media needs to stop paying so much attention to the unprecedented level of distracting huge fanfare, but whatever, I just can’t even.
