"Iconic" has been overused to the point where it doesn't have any particular meaning remaining. Recently on DL there have been posts referencing "iconic statistics" and "iconic years". Not a single article about the Notre Dame fire was able to avoid the i-word. Do writers think it makes them sound clever or profound? To me it signals the opposite. It is a surefire indicator of at best sloppy thinking and writing, and at worst simple ignorance.
"Iconic" is the most overused and misused word in the English language
by Anonymous | reply 80 | November 11, 2019 9:27 PM |
Literally.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | April 23, 2019 11:01 PM |
I think (hope) it’s uswd here ironically, but yeah, in general parlance it’s bad. Every social ledia skank is a “fashion icon.”
by Anonymous | reply 2 | April 23, 2019 11:13 PM |
I have this recurring fantasy about sucker-punching everyone who uses "iconic" or "veggie".
by Anonymous | reply 3 | April 23, 2019 11:20 PM |
Welcome to our club!
by Anonymous | reply 4 | April 23, 2019 11:30 PM |
Isn’t it iconic?
by Anonymous | reply 5 | April 24, 2019 1:34 AM |
Surreal is a word that came out of nowhere to become omnipresent..
by Anonymous | reply 6 | April 24, 2019 1:41 AM |
Oh, you
by Anonymous | reply 7 | April 24, 2019 1:56 AM |
Literally iconic
by Anonymous | reply 8 | April 24, 2019 2:03 AM |
This is quickly becoming an iconic thread.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | April 24, 2019 2:08 AM |
Hate it sooo much! Thank you op.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | April 24, 2019 2:17 AM |
The complaint about the use and overuse of the word "iconic" is an iconic DL thread topic.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | April 24, 2019 2:27 AM |
Finally, somebody else who sees it! I noticed this back in 2012, and would ask friends if they thought the word was being overused. Most said No, to my silent grumbles.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | April 24, 2019 2:29 AM |
So meta
by Anonymous | reply 13 | April 24, 2019 2:29 AM |
Iconic is a perfectly cromulent word.
It can be used to embiggen your vocabulary.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | April 24, 2019 2:35 AM |
It's a very artisanal word.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | April 24, 2019 2:36 AM |
Awesome!
by Anonymous | reply 16 | April 24, 2019 2:50 AM |
Iconic, literally!
by Anonymous | reply 17 | April 24, 2019 2:55 AM |
Ironic is misused a lot too. It doesn't mean coincidental.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | April 24, 2019 6:14 AM |
As overused as "iconic" is now, it is strange to realize that its use was practically non-existent before the turn of the century. In 20 years it has overtaken writing, likely as so much writing has migrated to the internet and editors with good taste have less of a role than they once did.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | April 24, 2019 10:18 AM |
Personally, I hear the word disruptive far too often.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | April 24, 2019 10:42 AM |
Is Notre Dame not an icon of Paris?
by Anonymous | reply 21 | April 24, 2019 10:58 AM |
This thread is epic!
by Anonymous | reply 22 | April 24, 2019 11:11 AM |
Agreed completely. For awhile there, "impact" was the word of the moment, then the horrible "impactful" got trotted out. Does nobody know how to use a thesaurus now?
by Anonymous | reply 23 | April 24, 2019 11:14 AM |
"Invite" as a noun.
"Notate" instead of just note.
We could turn this into a "vocabulary for idiots" thread.
Most corporate speak.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | April 24, 2019 11:19 AM |
[quote]"impact" was the word of the moment
A moment in 1975. Unfortunately, the moment never went away.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | April 24, 2019 11:33 AM |
This thread resonates with me.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | April 24, 2019 2:14 PM |
I find the use of tragedy (when sad would usually do) much more irritating
by Anonymous | reply 27 | April 24, 2019 2:26 PM |
Honestly, it's amazing that nobody has suggested either honestly or amazing are the most overused or misused words in the English language.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | November 9, 2019 1:32 AM |
How about “hero” used when “victim” is more appropriate?
by Anonymous | reply 29 | November 9, 2019 1:47 AM |
OP is an iconoclast.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | November 9, 2019 1:48 AM |
"What about ME?"
by Anonymous | reply 31 | November 9, 2019 1:49 AM |
You ain't kiddin', cuntbag OP. Watch any local news report and every thing in the fucking shit town is "iconic". So fucking retarded.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | November 9, 2019 1:51 AM |
This thread is so incredible!
by Anonymous | reply 33 | November 9, 2019 1:55 AM |
I mean, like, this thread is amazing.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | November 9, 2019 1:57 AM |
Ignorant people who the word 'iconic' to describe ephemeral fashions are fools.
Ignorant people describing something as 'more iconic' are doubly foolish.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | November 9, 2019 2:04 AM |
Ah, yes, the most unique thread in a great while.
/s
by Anonymous | reply 37 | November 9, 2019 2:07 AM |
Hey, OP. Here's a phrase to make your head explode:
Iconic diva.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | November 9, 2019 2:16 AM |
Honestly, I read this thread yesterday and didn't think "Iconic" was overused, until I saw commercials and trailers at a movie theater tonight. The word "Iconic" was used four times during the trailers and real estate commercials. AMAZING was used twice. One of the real estate commercials, said the property for sale had an iconic roof.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | November 10, 2019 4:38 AM |
The younger generation mindlessly talk gibberish!
by Anonymous | reply 40 | November 10, 2019 4:40 AM |
Has anyone ever watched a Jeffrey Star video. Not that you'd want to, but everything is 'iconic'. The stupid cunt has no idea what the word means.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | November 10, 2019 5:13 AM |
OP has bespoken.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | November 10, 2019 5:37 AM |
This thread is so fetch.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | November 10, 2019 5:44 AM |
The word awesome has been curated robustly.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | November 10, 2019 8:18 AM |
I enjoyed reading about DL's patron saint of cuntiness, Lauren Bacall, who chewed out a reporter during a press junket once after he referred to Bacall's co-star, Nicole Kidman, as an icon. Bacall replied bluntly, "She's not an icon. She's too young to be one."
by Anonymous | reply 45 | November 10, 2019 8:25 AM |
Only those with the life-experience and the wisdom of the ages can confer an icon status.
It is NOT a plaything for millennials!
by Anonymous | reply 46 | November 10, 2019 8:33 AM |
Somewhere, there is a perfect clap-back to this going viral!
by Anonymous | reply 47 | November 10, 2019 8:47 AM |
Awesome is used a hundredfold over the next competitor. And said with such an incredibly flat delivery.
Awesome used to mean winning the lottery or landing the job of a lifetime. Now it’s been stomped down to “it’s absolutely awesome that they got my order right”!!!
by Anonymous | reply 48 | November 10, 2019 9:17 AM |
[quote]"Iconic" is the most overused and misused word in the English language
Don't I know it
by Anonymous | reply 49 | November 10, 2019 9:29 AM |
How about icaneic
by Anonymous | reply 50 | November 10, 2019 10:04 AM |
Can we join, R4?
by Anonymous | reply 51 | November 10, 2019 10:22 AM |
And this thread is about 8 years too late. It’s a millennial thing. They like the sound of it but don’t know that it means. One of them actually described a chair to me as “iconic”.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | November 10, 2019 10:43 AM |
That’s incredible. REALLY. JUST. INCREDIBLE.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | November 10, 2019 10:46 AM |
OP is on fleek!
by Anonymous | reply 54 | November 10, 2019 12:25 PM |
I know what 'icon' means. Clearly the media and Kidman do not!
by Anonymous | reply 55 | November 10, 2019 12:51 PM |
Language evolves and changes whether you like it or not.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | November 10, 2019 12:57 PM |
The words ICONIC and CURATE/CURATED make me want to end my life.
And "Social media"..
by Anonymous | reply 57 | November 10, 2019 1:03 PM |
So cliche OP Consider the optics.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | November 10, 2019 1:07 PM |
Another thread by an anal retentive old fart. OP types depressing and exhausting. Have people ever told you, OP, why they don't want to be around you? This is it.
by Anonymous | reply 59 | November 10, 2019 1:12 PM |
Everyone using 'super' as an adjective/adverb is driving me super crazy.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | November 10, 2019 1:12 PM |
Oh dear no one got it r 58 I despair
by Anonymous | reply 61 | November 10, 2019 9:02 PM |
^Bed rest, arent you on your period?
by Anonymous | reply 62 | November 10, 2019 9:29 PM |
aren’t
by Anonymous | reply 63 | November 10, 2019 9:31 PM |
People have long used the word "iconic" to describe trivial things, like the Adidas 'Superstar' shoe, the UPS truck, and the Hermès Birkin Bag. This use predates the Internet and all the lazy freelance online journalists who like to throw the term around.
The 1915 Coca-Cola contour bottle is trivial as well but can at least rightfully be considered an "iconic" design. So can the Swiss Army Knife.
by Anonymous | reply 64 | November 10, 2019 9:35 PM |
People have long used the word "iconic" to describe trivial things, like the Adidas 'Superstar' shoe, the UPS truck, and the Hermès Birkin Bag. This use predates the Internet and all the lazy freelance online journalists who like to throw the term around.
The 1915 Coca-Cola contour bottle is trivial as well but can at least rightfully be considered an "iconic" design. So can the Swiss Army Knife.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | November 10, 2019 9:36 PM |
*Sorry that posted twice
by Anonymous | reply 66 | November 10, 2019 9:39 PM |
^ Foolish man! And describing frivolous trivialities as 'iconic" is especially foolish.
by Anonymous | reply 67 | November 10, 2019 10:04 PM |
Just pointing out that the casual use of this word, like the concept of "basic" on the other thread, is nothing new.
by Anonymous | reply 68 | November 10, 2019 10:22 PM |
OP is gaslighting us.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | November 10, 2019 11:41 PM |
No, R64, people have not long used iconic in this sense. This is something that definitely started within the last dozen years.
I do not understand why you bring in the examples you do. If I use a word today to describe something a hundred years ago, that is not the same thing as it being used a hundred years ago. I can describe King Henry VIII as Tupac Shakurish, but it would be wrong to say that people in the 1500s used the same word. I can describe Rembrandt paintings as selfies, but that does not mean people did when he painted them.
by Anonymous | reply 71 | November 11, 2019 1:59 AM |
I grew up in the 1980s , R71, and I was aware of the term being used in relation to design back then. I remember reading about "Warhol's iconic Campbell's soup can painting" certainly in the 1990s.
by Anonymous | reply 72 | November 11, 2019 3:46 AM |
Warhol treats the Campbell's soup can in an iconic manner---not the way the word is used now but in its original sense.
(Also, the article you are talking about that used that phrase ("Warhol's iconic Campbell's soup can painting" ) is from 2006, not the 90s)
by Anonymous | reply 73 | November 11, 2019 3:52 AM |
That exact phrase has been used countless times including in the pre-Internet era, R76, so Googling it and citing the first publication you come across means nothing. I grew up in the Netherlands and France in the pre-Internet age and read tons of English-language magazines in my teens and twenties, including many design and art publications.
God, this is the most boring "discussion" I've ever been part of. Time to 'unfollow' this thread and stop conversing with the pointlessly contrarian lost souls.
by Anonymous | reply 74 | November 11, 2019 4:00 AM |
I totally agree, OP.
Jesus was iconic; Elvis Presley was iconic; I dare say even Madonna in her prime was iconic.
The party you went to Saturday night was not, sadly, iconic.
Thanks for posting this.
by Anonymous | reply 75 | November 11, 2019 4:06 AM |
R78, you are missing the larger point. Iconic WOULD be used in art and design publications. You are actually supporting the viewpoint you claim to be refuting.
Iconic was not used to describe vegetables, social events, socks, and everything else it is applied to today.
by Anonymous | reply 76 | November 11, 2019 12:14 PM |
Yes, OP. This has been my pet peeve for years.
[quote] Iconic was not used to describe vegetables, social events, socks, and everything else it is applied to today.
Amen.
by Anonymous | reply 77 | November 11, 2019 12:28 PM |
There's a great Twitter thread from Margaret Sullivan (former public editor at the Times) about a particular overused word or two....that then becomes a very good discussion......
by Anonymous | reply 78 | November 11, 2019 12:30 PM |
"Iconic" is over used, but it is hardly the current "most overused and misused word in the English language."
That word woud be "incredible." Every brain dead media celebrity modifies every fact with the word "incredible." They never have to think critically. They never have to build a vocabulary. Anything and everthing is just incredible!
Several years ago, an entry level person (not my hire!) in a PR office I was managing used the word "incredible" four times in a three paragraph letter going to a client. I saw it sitting on his desk and wrote across it, "Please see me before sending this out." Of course, the idiot boy was angry that I had written on his letter. Asshole.
by Anonymous | reply 79 | November 11, 2019 12:47 PM |