Fritinancy

Word of the week: Greedflation

Read all about greedflation on my Substack newsletter! And while you’re there, check out some other recent posts: on the -pilled suffix (redpilled, blackpilled, breadpilled, glitterpilled); on Phoebe Philo (what a name!); on pastness, a new-to-me word that isn’t new at all; on Kim Kardashian’s Ultimate Nipple Bra; and on the ubiquitous, ridiculous ’tis the season, which I’m not even a little bit jolly about. 

And look: Here’s my November linkfest, now called a linkstack!

Wondering why I’ve moved over there? Here’s an explanation.

December linkfest

The Namerology blog picks the defining baby names of the last decade—“The names that were not just hugely popular from 2010-19, but vastly more popular than in decades past…and future. They’re flying high, yet as the ’10s draw to a close they’re already starting to decline from their dizzying popularity peaks.”

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Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn combed his newspaper’s archives for the first mentions of products, technologies, ideas, and terms that have become part of life since late 2009. His chronological list goes from A (Angry Birds) to Y (YOLO), and includes a bunch of words and brands you read about here first, including showrooming, FOMO, trigger warning, and antifa.

Ix-nay on the is-the-season-tay

Once again, I regret to say, we find ourselves deep in the season of the overworked Yuletide cliché. And what a bleak season it is this year. According to the Fourth Estate, ’tis the season for

• identity thieves
• gift card theft
• burglaries, thefts, and crimes
• charity imposters
• payment fraud
• package theft
• infectious disease
• deer-related crashes
• traffic jams
• cyberattacks
• and stress.

’Tis also the season to eat poorly, to avoid office party lawsuits, to lock your doors, to drive sober or get pulled over, to be driven mad by Christmas music, to disregard reason, and – alas – to be racist.

The picture isn’t entirely grim. ’Tis also the season for Wisconsin cheese and for tear-by-hand packing tape.

And also for this.

Adventures in weird retail

The Black Friday that started in July. The Cyber Monday that pops up in October, or whenever. But wait – there’s more! Here’s a quartet of recent items about strange shopping opportunities.

Yes, it's the season. We get it.

Dear copywriters, editors, and reporters: Do you really think you’re being clever with your “’Tis the season” line? Trust us: you are not. I refer you to that wise man John McIntyre, of the Baltimore Sun, reminding us to beware holiday clichés:

“’Tis the season”: Not in copy, not in headlines, not at all. Never, never, never, never, never. You cannot make this fresh. Do not attempt it.

And yet, and yet. So much ’tis, so little seasoning.

The evidence:

 

A mailing from West Elm that I received October 5, when ’twasn’t the season for much of anything.

 

What season is it?

Why, ’tis the ’tis-the-season season!

’Tis Away, ’Tis Away, ’Tis Away All!

Like snowflakes, the ’tis the season headlines at first seem pretty, harmless, and unique.

And then the flurry turns into a sodden blizzard.

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Happy ’Tisgiving!

’Tis-the-Season season came early this year! Why, ’twasn’t even Halloween when Saks Fifth Avenue gave us “’tis the treating hour” in a New York Times ad .

 

 

Page A5, October 29.

’Tis the “’Tis the Season” Season

Here on the ’tis beat, we have a zero-tolerance policy. As Baltimore Sun copyeditor John McIntyre has repeatedly reminded us in his roundup of holiday clichés:

“’Tis the season”: Not in copy, not in headlines, not at all. Never, never, never, never, never. You cannot make this fresh. Do not attempt it.

Is anyone listening? Not bloody likely.

Here’s Henry Fuhrmann, head of the Los Angeles Times copy desks, posting on Twitter. Note the date:

It is with heavy heart that I report that the phrase *'tis the season* passed unscathed through the copy desk this week. I blame myself.

— Henry Fuhrmann (@hfuhrmann) November 6, 2014

I’ve been conducting my own heavy-hearted research in the halls of commerce. Here is this year’s gallery of offenders.

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What Season Is It?

That’s right—it’s ’tis season!

About eight months ahead of schedule.

 

Ad for Sonoma Land Trust, San Francisco Chronicle, March 29, 2014

 

I’m tempted to say “Christmas came early,” but John McIntyre would probably make me walk the plank.