Damnit Timberlake

Why did you have to go and declare that you were bringing sexy back? I realize that JT is not directly to blame (neither is Sacha Baron Cohen)but, as I was alluding to in my last entry, overuse of the word sexy is, well, one of my gripes. Everything is sexy. In an excerpt from the Columbia Business School alumni magazine Hermes (note: link not provided because for whatever reason the article from which I am quoting is contained only in the print release, and is excluded from the online version and the downloadable pdf – pages 20-25 literally omitted), there is an article on "The Future of Advertising." I'm citing this article rather than many other blatant misuses of the word "sexy" because the advertising world is extra hip and savvy and up-to-speed on buzzwords, so you can usually look to them for the first transgressions of word over-use (see also: Chrismukkah).

In said article Shelly Lazarus, big-time marketer for Ogilvy, says "it's always more sexy to report calamity than continuity." This is not to say this is incorrect word usage. Take, for instance, this example given by the Dictionary application that comes with my Mac: I've climbed most of the really sexy west coast mountains. Quick question(s). Have you ever a) heard anyone use sexy this way and/or b) wanted to smack them for doing so. I really don't have a problem with Shelly, just that word, especially because Shelly is Columbia Business School class of '70, making her, even were she a prodigy when she graduated, old. Do you want to hear your grandparents calling things sexy? Probably not.

Bottom line: sexy is permissible as a joke adjective or descriptor of someone you find sexually attractive. Examples include:

"Wow, I never noticed Jennifer's butt before she wore those jeans to casual Friday; she was looking sexy." This is doubly allowed because of semi-colon usage.

Casey: Wow, did you see Jake's abs when that bucket of Gatorade got dumped on his head, rendering his shirt see-through?
Rachel: Ohmigod, I know, and the orange drops coming off his hair was so HOT!!
David: Don't you mean sexy?
Rachel: No, because I'm talking about the drops coming off his hair, which was hot, but you're right, Jake is sexy.
David: At least we can all agree on that.

Robocop vs. Terminator: Half-man, half-cop meets Cytodyne cyborg from the future…with sexy results.

In the 80s, this may have passed for sexy. That is just one reason the UK is great. Parliamentary practices are another. In closing I just want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy Groundhog Day.