Sunday, August 13, 2006

It's Been a Robust Summer, Don't You Think?

Have you noticed that the latest word-of-the-month seems to be "robust"? It has struck me that lately on the news there's a lot of talk about "robust responses," "robust peace keeping forces," etc. Do a quick search of robust on NPR to see what I mean.
It would be interesting to know what all the Lebanese dead civilians felt about the robust Israeli self-defense. Or how inmates at Qitmo or Abu Gharaib like our robust hospitality?
I wonder if the mainstream media will describe al-Qaeda's next massacre as a "robust" operation? I kind of doubt it!
It's interesting to note how certain words find their way into the "news" vocabulary. Earlier in the year it struck me that I heard the words "vetted" and "vetting" more frequently than at any time before or since.

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