Thursday, February 21, 2008

Defeating Outrage-Fatigue

You say you can't believe it? That it's time to take to the internets and pour out your blog-a-licious timely and vital response to the issue which has become the Talk of the Day?

Writing about "that darn so-and-so" will mark you as a leftover from the 1950s - and unless you're writing a retro-blog, it lacks the cutting edge of today's now-a-modern-go-go girl and guy.

So how to say it, since there is so much outrage today (on any topic) that a newish syndrome had to be invented "outrage-fatigue"? (Some symptoms of it here.)

I'm happy to help, providing a Punditry Lexicon so that you can properly and captivatingly provide the right word to express your displeasure with the issue/person/social ill of your choice.

Forget saying "Outrage" - just look at the many variations offered:


abuse, affront, atrocity, barbarism, damage, desecration, enormity, evildoing, harm, hurt, indignity, inhumanity, injury, insult, mischief, misdoing, offense, profanation, rape, rapine, ravishing, ruin, shock*, violation, violence, wrongdoing

blowup, boiling point, cat fit, conniption, conniption fit, flare-up*, fury, huff*, hurt, indignation, mad, resentment, ruckus*, shock*, stew*, storm*, wrath

aggrieve, boil over*, burn up*, defile, deflower, desecrate, fire up*, force, ill-treat, incense, infuriate, injure, insult, jar*, madden, maltreat, mistreat, misuse, oppress, persecute, raise cain, raise hell, rape, ravage, ravish, scandalize, shock*, spoil, violate, whip up*, wrong

acrimony, animosity, annoyance, antagonism, blood of a bitch, blow up*, cat fit*, chagrin, choler, conniption, dander*, disapprobation, displeasure, distemper, enmity, exasperation, fury, gall, hatred, huff, ill humor, ill temper, impatience, indignation, infuriation, irascibility, ire, irritability, irritation, mad, miff, outrage, passion, peevishness, pet, petulance, pique, rage, rankling, resentment, slow burn*, sore, stew, storm, tantrum, temper, tiff, umbrage, vexation

abomination, antisocial behavior, atrocity, breach, break, caper, case, corruption, criminality, delict, delictum, delinquency, depravity, dereliction, enormity, evil, evil behavior, fault, felony, hit, illegality, immorality, infraction, infringement, iniquity, job, lawlessness, malefaction, malfeasance, misconduct, misdeed, misdemeanor, mortal sin, quickie, racket, scandal, sneak, tort, transgression, trespass, unlawful act, vice, villainy, violation, wickedness, wrong, wrongdoing

But wait! There's more! If none of the above seems to emote your particular irritation, there are six - count them!! - six pages of replacement words available to you via Thesaurus.com.

Me, I think my new favorite is "Malefaction" - sounds like a good biblical-style of outrage.

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:12 PM

    I like "malignant perfidy" myself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So are you saying I shouldn't use my blog to complain?

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  3. Oh, my stars, that cheered me immeasurably.

    ::smooch::

    ReplyDelete
  4. W --

    no siree bob that is NOT what i am saying here.

    what i am saying here is "lookit all the many jillions of ways we has to express our ire, our gall, our collective oh-hell-no"

    complain with passion, says i.

    Russ - i snorted coffee out my nose when i read 'malignant perfidy'. sounds like a great name for a heavy metal album.

    Tits - smooches back at ya - i urge all readers here to go bask in the cheers your blog provides.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12:31 AM

    I prefer malarkey

    ReplyDelete