New Year Report #2

3 days in & the good news so far is that it doesn't look like we caught Covid from... somewhere/one, as we suspected we may have. We both had sore throats on New Year's Day & thought oh-oh, here we go... but no - the sore throats have subsided & we don't have any of the other symptoms on the list

Either that, or the fact that we're both triple-dosed & have ox-like constitutions meant that Omicron knew an insurmountable challenge when it saw one... two

In other news, we've been sort of cat sitting a friend of a friend's cat on the other side of town for a few days, while the friend's friend is away with our friend (there has to be an easier way of putting this!!). He's a handsome fluffy boy... the cat, not the friend's friend... not that the friend's friend isn't handsome, just... Oh forget it - see for yourself!!





Ace, for that is his name, has been pretty much the only living creature we've interacted with this year, while we tried various locations to get tested, which either had queues of cars out the gates, down the road & into infinity, or were simply closed... & also tried every Chemist we passed to buy Rapid-Antigen Tests - all sold out. So we did a little road trip south-west of Sydney yesterday, only leaving the confines of Laura to snap some photos at a lookout over Lake Burragorang - the man-made lake that is the source of Sydney's drinking water...



... before giving in to the heat & humidity & coming home, where we went on a bit of a Star Wars binge & caught up with the last 2 movies we hadn't yet seen - 'Rise of Skywalker' & 'Solo'. Having avoided spoilers for 'RoS' over the last 2 years, but not the criticisms all the Star Wars fan(atic)s whinged about because it didn't meet their expectations, or "conform to canon" (whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean), we were almost perfectly happy with the film, except for the (Spoiler Alert!!) kiss between Kylo/Ben & Rey, which was a bit of a clichéd moment, but you have to remember, this is a Disney franchise now, so muzzle your inner Roger Ebert accordingly... 'Solo' was fine - not outstanding, but not terrible either, though nowhere near as good as the other 'back story' film 'Rogue One' was - ask ChaosVizier about that one & prepare to be raved at about how good it is!!

Next, we'll watch 'The Mandalorian' & see what all this Baby Yoda hype is about...

So 2022 off to a reasonable start... All downhill from here, then??!!??

Banished Word List for 2022 takes aim at some Aussie favourites

Are you guilty of saying “wait, what?” when you hear something surprising?

What about jumping on the trend of “asking for friend” when everyone, including yourself, knows it’s for you?

If a US university had its way, those words would be banned in 2022.

Lake Superior State University in Michigan has compiled an annual banished words list since 1976 to “uphold, protect, and support excellence in language”.

While last year most of the words were Covid-related, this time around it was colloquial language that was most criticised. Not great news for us Aussies!

The nominations of what words to ban came from within the US, but also Norway, Belgium, England, Scotland, Canada and Australia. Most were shunned for overuse.

“Most people speak through informal discourse. Most people shouldn’t misspeak through informal discourse. That’s the distinction nominators far and wide made, and our judges agreed with them,” the university’s executive director of marketing and communications Peter Szatmary said.

LSSU president Dr Rodney Hanley said every year submitters suggested what words and terms to banish by paying close attention to what humanity utters and writes.


“Taking a deep dive at the end of the day and then circling back make perfect sense. Wait, what?” he joked.

Here is the list of banished words.

1. Wait, what?

This ubiquitous imperative question is a failed “response to a statement to express astonishment, misunderstanding, or disbelief,” one nominator said.

“I don’t want to wait,” said another.

2. No worries

This phrase was nominated for misuse and overuse, for being an incorrect substitute for “you’re welcome”.

“If I’m not worried, I don’t want anyone telling me not to worry,” a contributor said.

LSSU notes that despite its “meaninglessness”, the term is recommended to emailers by Google Assistant.

3. At the end of the day

Twenty-plus years after original banishment of this phrase in 1999, the day still isn’t over for this misused, overused, and useless expression, LSSU said.

“Many times things don’t end at the end of the day — or even the ramifications of whatever is happening,” one person said.

Others considered “day” an imprecise measure. Today? Present times?

4. That being said

Nominators claimed this phrase was a verbal filler, redundant justification, and pompous posturing.

“Go ahead and say what you want already!” one entrant said.

5. Asking for a friend

This funny saying was banned for misuse and overuse through deceit — because the friend is a ruse.

This cutesy phrase, often deployed in social media posts in a coy attempt to deter self-identification, isn’t fooling anyone, LSSU said.

6. Circle back

Let’s circle back about why to banish this jargon. It’s a conversation, not the Winter Olympics, LSSU said.

A grammarian said it was “the most overused phrase in business, government, or other organisation since synergy”.

The university banished the word synergy in 2002 as evasive blanket terminology and smartypants puffery.

7. Deep dive

“The only time to dive into something is when entering a body of water, not going more in-depth into a particular subject or book,” a nominator said.

Another asked if the word deep was necessary. “I mean, does anyone dive into the shallow end?” they said.

8. New normal

It wasn’t as if Covid-related words didn’t get any mention this year.

“Those clamouring for the days of old, circa 2019, use this to signal unintentionally that they haven’t come to terms with what ‘normal’ means,” one person said.

“After a couple of years, is any of this really new?” said another.

9. You’re on mute

Ah we’ve all been through this one. You’d think it would have banished on its own, but the need still pops up from time to time.

LSSU banished it for overuse and uselessness, then, due to ineptitude.

“We’re two years into remote working and visiting. It’s time for everyone to figure out where the mute button is,” a nominator said.

10. Supply chain

Word-watchers noticed the frequent, unfortunate appearance of this phrase toward the end of this year as the coronavirus persisted, LSSU said.

“Supply chain issues have become the scapegoat of everything that doesn’t happen or arrive on time and of every shortage,” said a nominator.

Being Australian, of course I use the expression 'No Worries'... to not do so is, frankly, un-Australian. Use of alternatives like 'You're welcome', or 'Think nothing of it' get you earmarked as being 'Posh', or more eloquently 'Up yourself'...

Any others, while we're at it?!?!?

When 2 Viruses Love Each Other Very Much...

You get 'Flurona'!!!!!!!!!

Now 2022 is up & running!!

In other news today:

Monster crab attacks Australian golfers

Christmas Island is an Australian territory, so we'll claim the monster crab as yet another of our fauna that helps toughen up our citizens & puts the fear of god into visitors!!