We certainly are, sport. But we’ve been done with it for some time. Where you been? Here’s what we said about the term way back on Nov. 16:
Nobel economist Paul Krugman is a smart guy. So why does he use clichés? His article today, “The World as He Finds It” refers to President Obama’s “soaring rhetoric.” Lordy, I am tired of that term. A google search for the phrase turned up 136,000 usages for “soaring rhetoric” and Obama — for one suggestive, if not entirely reliable, measure.
Call this particular non-thought — the hooking together of a noun with a much-repeated adjective to make a prefabricated phrase — a pet peeve. (Yes, I know, I know…) In any case, here’s what the guv’na said today:
“Soaring rhetoric feels good for a little while, but if there’s no follow-through, all that’s left is the same problems except bigger because we put them off.”
For some of us it feels good, Chris, for some of us. For those of us not addicted to the high, it feels like trying to live entirely on a diet of clichés … I meant soufflés. Or maybe both.
