I am sitting in Starbuck’s and actually getting a bit of stuff done with all of the sugar and caffeine running through my veins after two mocha frappuccinos. But I think of the items that I saw in the refrigerated case that one waits by until it is one’s turn to talk to the barista. No, I am not referring to the food items, but rather to one of the words printed on their little designation signs: Artisan.
Come on. Aren’t we making that word redundant through overuse? Are we trying to pretend that the little sandwiches are not made in some food preparation facility and brought here by a truck? And it’s just egg and cheese and bacon and a roll. This is not difficult enough to require a master-level of craft.
Springing to mind, though it was not printed on a card in the case, is my other new word to be annoyed by: Awesome. You tell the waitress that you would like a bowl of the chicken tortilla soup: awesome. I wonder if they will find a word that is even more emphatic than that in a year or two, or if they’ll change linguistic strategies completely. There is not, after all, much past awesome.
white pebble 