For me it’s not “pandemic,” “fraud,” “overturn,” or even “in the wake of” (although the latter is a finalist). It’s upend, upending, upended, and all other variants.

Not because of its high frequency—even though I see it in one or more stories every day, including in headlines—but because it’s tiresome and unnecessary repetition. There are so many ways to say that. Why use the same one over and over and over and over? Is someone editing them in to fill a quota or win a bet? Or are tired journalists just lapsing into the readiest and trendiest phrasing?

Either way, it’s stale. Let’s retire it.

What’s your candidate?

Topics: vocabulary, journalism, repetition, word choice, triteness