STAN FREBERG HERE...Cleaning Up "Debris-Speak"
Stan Freberg here. "Hell-OOO-oh!" Have you heard about enough of that phrase? So have I. Be right back. [:60 SPOT BREAK]
My friend Rip Rence, a very funny writer for the L.A. Times, recently suggested a moratorium on what he called "Debris-speak"; phrases like "It doesn't take a rocket scientist..." This may have been witty the first time around, but now it's driven into the ground, you know.
"Faux" is another word that drives Rence and me up the wall. It may be okay in France, but this is AMERICA! Just say "fake."
"This is a wake-up call..." is another phrase that sets Rence's teeth on edge. He urges everybody just go back to sleep. "I want to make a difference..." This cliche has been used by every Miss America for 25 years; let's leave that phrase at home, girls! Rence says Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer made a difference.
Rip also suggests someone install a "language czar" to lay down national cliche rules. Hell-OOO-oh! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize somebody has to do away with all these faux phrases!
Stan Freberg here.
Copyright (C)1997, Stan Freberg/Freberg, Ltd. (but not very) Distributed by Dick Brescia Associates and Radio Spirits, Inc.