Words That Don’t Need to Exist

First up: eponymous. I don’t know why anyone ever uses this word. It’s almost always redundant, and/or the information it is conveying is self-evident. I don’t know, it just sounds like you’re trying too hard. Let it go. Put it away. Forget this word.

I already tweeted this photo, but I like it. I like bakers. And their products. Thank you for existing bakers!

Baker

Stacy Horn

I've written six non-fiction books, the most recent is Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York.

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4 thoughts on “Words That Don’t Need to Exist

  1. “Arguably” is a word I never use. It seems to be employed only by people who don’t want to commit to an opinion, and as I’m not getting any younger I prefer to be around people and writers who take a stand.

    “Problematic”. This is a word that was invented by the Pentagon, as a fancy way of putting a distance between the responsibility of the speaker/writer to address the really of a problem and something that is straight up a PROBLEM.

    But yeah, let’s start by outlawing “eponymous”.

  2. OH. Is that really true about problematic?? It does sound made-up now that you mention it (but used so much it sounds like a real word now).

  3. Ugh. Even our language has been “collateral damage” for the Pentagon? Brother.

    All I know about “Eponymous” is that it is the title of an REM album of their greatest hits. I remember being completely confused by the word, even after I looked it up (wanting to know what that title meant). I’m totally down with getting rid of it.

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