When (if) we finally get to the general election phase of our three-year presidential election cycle, there are going to be myriad overused words, phrases, and expressions that we’re going to hear. They will be as grating on my nerves as the sound of a room full of screaming children who are next to a construction yard with a non-stop jack hammer and vehicles with that annoying beep beep beep sound.
The leaders on that list of general election annoyances will be talk of red states, blue states, and the (mark my words) increasingly popular reference to purple states. I’m not even sure why I get so annoyed when I hear states referred to this way. It might be because of the implication that if certain states are so certain to vote in a certain way, then I wonder why we just spent the last three years talking about the election. It also might be because it’s a very general analysis of a complicated electorate, especially when the election is talked about for 23.5 hours every day on the major news networks. They certainly have enough time to go into a little more detail.
More likely, it’s just the mere repetition of the same words and phrases over and over and over again.
–Paul
Paul’s book–Literally, the Best Language Book Ever
Everything Language and Grammar 